Tigger & Boo: Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder
by HaylsValo
Summary: A side story to my main story. Boo and Chibs have been together for three years now and the time has come for Boo to move out of Tig's so that they can live together. How does Tig cope with the fact that Boo has moved out? The answer; not very well.
1. Orders

_Disclaimer - The characters of this fanfiction, as well as the 'Sons of Anarchy' world belong to Kurt Sutter, with the exception of 'Boo' Trager, who is an original character created by me. I make no profit from this work._

_**So I decided to make a series with shorter chapters based around the story of how Tig copes with Boo moving out, mostly since college will be eating up a lot of my time now so I didn't want you to have to wait ages for the one shot **_

"Boo, doll, can we talk?" Tig asked as he, and a grinning, jubilant Boo walked through the front door. 21 year old Boo was still wearing her graduation robes and seemed to be pretty much floating on air after graduating from college with the highest honours she could get. During the ceremony she'd even got a special mention for the book she'd had published – a book that had eventually topped the New York Times bestseller list – in her final year. Tig couldn't be prouder of the girl he considered his daughter, but now they needed to move past the excitement of the day and have a serious, very long overdue chat. Boo however, was none the wiser about how serious they're talk was to be and sat herself down on the couch before patting her lap for Tillie and beaming up at her guardian.

"Sure Tigger, what's up?" she asked as Tillie bounded over to her excitedly, tail wagging about madly as she jumped and ran about Boo's lap, sniffing in interest as her black graduation robes. Tig offered his girl a weak smile before allowing it to fall away from his face, unable to keep it there a moment longer. It felt so false, so forced. _Why should he be smiling now?_ He had little reason to be doing so...

"You know I love you right?" he said as he sat down next to Boo, taking one of her hands between both of his and squeezing softly. Boo frowned at once, sensing that something was wrong, all excitement and jubilance from her graduation gone in a moment. "More than anyone." Tig added, managing another brief and weak smile. Over the years he'd grown to love Boo even more than his daughters, who didn't want to know him at all. He loved her more than his brothers and although he'd never admit to it, he loved her more than he loved his Harley and his club. But maybe that was only because Tig knew he'd never have to make the choice between SAMCRO and Boo. Boo would never make him do such a thing, but if Tig had to, he'd choose her every time. It would however, be the hardest thing in the world to do, giving up his club, his brothers...

"Yeah..." Boo nodded, stomach contorting fearfully. She didn't much like the tone of Tig's voice, dull and emotionless, nor did she like the look on his face. Blue eyes glazed, dreary and downcast, lips curved into a frown, Tig looked very much like a man that was scared, nervous and incredibly apprehensive. Whatever he had to say was important, and bad. Boo just knew it.

"And you know that I love having you here right? Living with me." Tig added, giving Boo's hand a firm shake as once again he allowed himself to smile briefly, the smile this time being a little more genuine and wide for his words were very much the truth. Tig used to hate coming home to his apartment, it was so empty and silent, it was why he spent too much time at the clubhouse, but since having Boo move in with him coming home had been something to look forward too. He loved coming home to Boo, loved curling up on the couch with her and Tillie and watching TV, loved the chats they had that often went long into the night, hell he even loved their arguments over stupid little things like cleaning and cooking. He just loved having her living with him. But now she was all grown up, a published author, an Ol' Lady, a college graduate. She was no longer a 16 year old, naive and lost teenager in desperate need of a father figure, she was a confident young women, happy, in love and most importantly, a woman that shouldn't be living with her father. She's now been with Chibs for over three years. It was about time she lived with him. This was something that had been playing on Tig's mind for a while now. He knew Chibs wanted his Ol' Lady living with him – it was something he'd brought up with the Sergeant at Arms a number of times – but Boo it seemed, wasn't yet ready to move in with him. Or rather, she wasn't yet ready to move out of Tig's. The mechanic knew he was the main reason Boo was yet to live with Chibs. She didn't want to move out and leave him all alone, didn't want to hurt his feelings... problem is, sooner or later she'd have to. _She couldn't live with him forever._

"Tig, what's wrong?" Boo asked, curling her fingers round Tig's, a look of utmost concern on her face. "You're freaking me out a little here..." she admitted. She was worried that something bad had happened, that maybe there was something wrong with Tig... Fears that were only heightened when Tig dropped his head so that Boo could no longer see his face, so that she couldn't see the tears that had so rapidly filled his eyes, stinging them so much he couldn't help but blink, sending a wave of hot, thick tears crashing down his cheeks. He didn't want Boo to see that, didn't want her to see him so vulnerable, and most importantly, he didn't want her to see how much his choice was upsetting him. If she did, then she'd never agree to move out. Boo never did anything that would hurt Tig, for she hated seeing him hurt.

"You need to move out kid." He said, words practically grunted out in a low and grouchy tone. He didn't want Boo to move out, hated that he had to ask her – _tell her_ – too, but the time had come for her to move in with Chibs. Hell that time had been and gone, she should have done it years ago.

"What?" Boo chocked out, totally caught off guard by Tig's words. _Move out?_ Why? Had she done something to piss him off? Did he not want her living with him anymore? Boo loved living at Tig's and moving out had never once, not in over five years of them living together, been brought up. _At least not between them_. She'd talked about it with Chibs but Boo was yet to feel ready to move out of her guardian's home..."Tig I don't understand..." Boo added, for Tig himself had just voiced how much he loved having her live with him, why was he now telling her she had to move out?

"I want you to move out Boo." Tig said words firmer and with more authority than before, making it more than apparent to Boo that this wasn't a request or a suggestion, it was an order.

"Why?" she asked, throat so choked with emotion she could barely make her voice audible. In her mind Tig's tone had been harsh and cruel, demanding and that had hurt more than the words themselves, more than what they meant. He sounded angry at her, annoyed, like he'd asked her to move out a dozen times and she'd refused every time, like he was fed up with having her live with him.

"Doll, you're 21, you've just graduated from college, you're a published writer and you've been Chibs' Ol' Lady for more than three years now." Tig said, softening his tone when he realised how harsh he must have seemed, pride oozing from every work he spoke. Yet he was unable to look up and look Boo in the eye. He couldn't let her see how upset all this was making him, it would only make things harder for the both of them..."You need to be living with your man, not your daddy." He added frankly, near emotionlessly.

"You're right; I should be living with Chibs..." Boo nodded, suddenly understanding where Tig was coming from, although that didn't mean she was hurting any less. "He keeps asking me to move in with him but..." she said, trailing off before she was finished. Truth was she didn't want to move out because she didn't want to leave Tig. She loved living with him and was almost frightened to live without him, knowing she'd miss him terribly, knowing she'd miss her just as much... Every time Chibs had talked to her about moving in with him, she'd quickly changed the subject as she just couldn't face up to the idea of moving out of Tig's. Chibs was being very patience with her, understanding, but Boo knew that patience and understanding was wavering. He wanted his woman living with him and as much as Boo wanted to live with him, she didn't want to leave Tig's. She knew however, that she couldn't have things both ways. "Is that what you really want Tigger?" she asked Tig, knowing that he was upset, probably crying and trying to hide him from her by ducking his head. Boo put her hand on Tig's chin and tried to tilt his head up so that he had to look at her, but he jerked his head away, standing up and turning his back on her in the same instance.

"Yeah, it is." He said cold-heartedly, arms folded tight across his chest as he gave one curt nod of his head. His words of course, were a lie, he didn't want his Boo to move out. And Boo heard that in his voice, heard also his sadness and the pain he felt, despite the fact that he tried to hide both from her.

"Tig, it's okay to feel sad you know, I've lived here for over five years now." Boo said, standing and placing a comforting hand on Tig's shoulder, tears in her own eyes too. She knew he'd be hurting because she hurt just as much, she didn't want to move out but she knew the time had come for her to move in with Chibs.

"Fuck off, I'm not sad." Tig said, shrugging Boo's hand off his shoulder rather forcefully, wiping at his eyes before turning to glare at Boo. He tried to make himself angry and fierce, drew on the anger he felt at himself for getting emotional and tearful over the situation. If he got angry and demanded Boo leave, it'd be easier on the both of them. She'd want to move out then, she'd want out as quickly as possible, "I want you to move out; I don't want you living with me anymore!" he cried, face red as he battled to keep back a fresh wave of tears, eyes bulging in forced anger, shaking finger pointing at Boo.

"Tig-" Boo said, stepping forward to hug her guardian despite the fact that she was suddenly scared of him. She knew he was hiding behind his anger, knew that he was really just upset. She expected Tig to hug her back, to give in and admit he was saddened by the fact that the time had come for her to move out, but he didn't, instead he pushed away, with such force she stumbled backwards, tripping on her graduation robes and falling back onto the couch.

"I said I want you to move out Boo!" he yelled as he pushed her away. Tig was angry at himself for being so violent with her, unable to believe for a moment that he'd actually laid his hands on her, but he used that anger to help push himself, to mask even more so the anguish he felt for having demanded that Boo move out. "I want you gone! Out by the end of the week." He spat, gesturing wildly in the direction of the door before storming into the kitchen in search of his whiskey so that he didn't have to look down at Boo's shocked and rather fearful expression a moment longer. Her wide, disbelieving eyes were shaking, full of tears, her face was pale, almost grey, and stained with freshly fallen tears. Looking at her was horrible and made Tig want to cry even more... he'd upset Boo more than he'd ever upset her before, he'd shoved her and scared the shit out of her, he'd hurt her... but these were all necessary evils. Or rather to Tig they were. He couldn't let her see how upset he was, she'd never move out if only because she didn't want to hurt his feelings. He had to be angry; he had to be cruel to make sure she'd move out...

"Okay..." Boo nodded, gulping back the tight knot that had formed in her throat as hot tears tumbled down her cheeks. As shocked and outraged as she was at Tig for shoving her, for yelling at her, she knew he was only doing it to mask his own pain, to make her moving out easier. Although Boo would much rather he was honest and open about how he was feeling so they could share their pain, so that they could hug and cry and start to work out how they were going to make up for the fact that they were no longer going to be living together. "I'll move out." She added, arms wrapping tight around her shaking form, round her clenched and aching tummy. "But I want you to know how sad it makes me..." she said, raising her voice so that Tig could hear her – it was obvious he was trying not to, he was stomping around the kitchen loudly, his back constantly too her in a vain attempt to ignore her completely. "I love living here Tig, why do you think I haven't moved out already?" she asked, despite knowing better than to expect an answer. "I'm gonna miss you so much..." she concluded sadly.

"Yeah, whatever kid." Tig said as he finally found his whiskey, before stomping into his room with it and slamming the door behind him, on Boo. Leaving her all alone, crying, broken, hurt beyond words.

"Tig..." It was a feeble cry, one that the Sergeant at Arms probably didn't even here, but Boo said it all the same as she slumped against the couch, tear soaked face buried in Tillie's soft, warm fur, heaving sobs rocking through her body every few seconds. Boo soon feel asleep curled up with Tillie on the couch, still in her graduation robes, worn from such a hyped up day as well as from the draining, emotional conversation she'd had with Tig, from the heart wrenching sobs she cried afterwards... Tig, in his bedroom, drank himself to sleep, glugging back his whiskey as though it were water, the harsh burn of it, the numbness of its effects doing little to stop him feeling guilty for what he'd done to Boo, doing far less to stop the anguish he felt over having demanded that she moved out. Tig, like Boo, feel asleep with tears staining his cheeks...

_**Well? What did you guys think? I promise you things will get a lot darker for Tig and Boo! The next chapter will centre around the day she moved out...**_

_**Reviews would be loved, they are incredibly motivational and make my writing more than worthwhile!**_


	2. Hate To Say Goodbye

_Disclaimer - The characters of this fanfiction, as well as the 'Sons of Anarchy' world belong to Kurt Sutter, with the exception of 'Boo' Trager, who is an original character created by me. I make no profit from this work._

_**I'm sorry I haven't updated this story in a while, I honestly just completely and totally forgot about it! Anyway, here's the second chapter! Enjoy!**_

Boo looked round the empty, bare room she had called home for the last five years with a saddened smile on her face. She was going to miss living at Tig's, was going to miss the way he woke her up on Christmas morning at 5am, was going to miss the way he threw water balloon's at old man Peterson – the deaf man in his 90's that lived below them - from her window, but most of all, she was going to miss Tig. She missed him already, so much. In the days since he'd told her to move out they'd not said a word to one another, he when home, retreated to his room and didn't answer her calls, at work he disappeared whenever she was around. To where, Boo didn't know. He didn't answer his phone to her, didn't even talk to Chibs. He was hurting, but there was nothing at all that Boo could do about it. _Because he wouldn't let her._

"Yeh okay darlin'?" Chibs asked, returning from the club van, his hand finding its way to her shoulder. The brunette sighed and nodded, placed her hand over Chibs'. She was alright, for the most part. She was moving in with the man she loved, it should be a happy occasion, but with Tig behaving in the way he was it was hard to be happy at all. Or at the very least, it was hard to feel happy without also feeling guilty. _How could she be happy when Tig was so sad?_

"Yeah I just..." she muttered trailing off. She didn't want to offend Chibs by saying that while she loved the fact they were moving in together, she hated that she was leaving Tig's and that in some ways she wanted so desperately to stay. "It's a hard day." She sighed eventually, leaning her head against her and Chibs' entwined hands. Chuckling softly the Scotsman wrapped his free arm around her waist and lowered his head to her ear.

"Don't wanna be movin' in with me eh?" he teased, kissing gently at the back of her ear. Boo giggled and squirmed, swatting Chibs away. Chibs of course, knew the truth. Boo had been fretting about moving out of Tig's for years, since the day he'd first asked her to move in with him. They'd only been together a few months, it'd been their first valentine's day together and Chibs had taken her for a picnic in the moonlight in a secluded little spot by the docks, right on the water's edge yet surrounded by tree's. Private, hard to find. He'd asked her to move in with him as they lay naked after their lovemaking, wrapped in the picnic blanket for warmth and she'd said no. No hesitation, no pause to even think. She'd admitted soon after that she just wasn't ready to leave Tig's, that she didn't want to hurt his feelings by moving out... And so it went on, Chibs asking Boo to move in with him, her saying no, giving the same reasons she had the first time. Now, despite the fact that Tig had been the one to ask her to move out, Boo was fretting about him still. And with good reason; the Sergeant at Arms hadn't been himself of late. Not since Boo's graduation when he'd asked her – told her – to move out.

"Shut up! You know I just feel bad about..." Boo said, waving a scolding finger in Chibs direction after spinning round to face him before thrusting a finger in the direction of Tig's bedroom door – which he had locked himself behind – her face falling, mouth drooping, eyes losing the sparkle of laughter deep within them. She just wanted to go to Tig, to sit with him until he talked to her, to yell and scream at him until they were able to talk out their differences. She had tried of course, many times in the last few days, but hadn't even been able to get him to open his door. She took a step towards Tig's bedroom, determined to try and talk to him one last time before she left, but was stopped at once by Chibs.

"Leave him be Boo, he's actin' like a spoilt child." The Scotsman insisted firmly, curling his fingers around the top of Boo's arm. No amount of talking at him, of demanding his attention and begging to see him was going to make him come round and behave like an adult. He'd come round in his own sweet time. Eventually he'd miss Boo too much and would skulk round with a sullen and sorry expression on his face. And Boo of course, would forgive him without question... Not something Chibs was particularly pleased about. He was more than a little annoyed with his Sergeant at Arms over the way he'd treated Boo after her graduation, over the fact that he's put his hands on her and shoved her! But he hadn't been able to have it out with the man, more so because Boo insisted against it than because Tig was avoiding him. "He'll come around, I'm sure of it." He assured Boo as he pulled her into his arms for a brief hug.

"Yeah, you're probably right..." Boo sighed as she wrapped her arms around Chibs, smiling softly when she felt him kiss her forehead. She didn't want to wait for Tig to come round, she wanted him to come round now, before she left his apartment, before she was officially living with Chibs. She knew of course, that that wasn't going to happen.

"That everything?" Chibs asked as he grabbed the last of the boxes in Boo's room. The brunette scanned the room quickly, looking under the bed and on the bare shelves before nodding.

"Yeah... I think so." She said. She was certain some of her things were in Tig's room but she had no way of knowing, he was locked away in there and wasn't letting her in. So she'd just have to leave them there until he decided to come out and come round. Chibs saw his girls eyes go once again to her guardians closed bedroom door, saw her face fall, her eyes dull in sadness.

"Come here darlin', it'll be okay." He said as he held a hand out to her. Boo took it and moved closer to him, leaned into him, face pressed up against his cut, shaking fingers tight around his as she reigned in both the urge to cry and to kick down Tig's door and demand that he talk to her. Unable to put his arms around her due to the box he held in his hand, Chibs simply rested his head atop of Boo's. "Yeh'll settle in at ours soon enough and Tig'll get used to living alone again..." he said. After all Tig had lived alone for years before Boo had moved in with him, he'd soon get used to it once again. And he was sure that once he and Boo got home, got back to their apartment, then she'd feel a lot better. Mostly because he planned to make love to her until the sun came up and he had to leave for work...

"I just want him to come out so I can say goodbye." Boo sighed with a shake of her head. Was that too much to ask from Tig? A goodbye? After all the years they had spent living together, all they'd been through with one another? _It seemed so..._

Chibs, never one to like it when his girl was upset, marched over to Tig's bedroom door and started hammering on it with his fist. _He was fed up with this shit!_ Tig was a grown fucking man and it was about time he stopped acting like a child and came and said goodbye to the girl he had treated as his daughter for the last 5 years or so. Hell, the girl he still saw as his daughter, no matter how much he avoided her and ignored her!

"Tiggy! Open up brother!" Chibs barked as he hammered on the door, harder still each time his fist connected with the varnished wood. He was ignored though, no matter how hard he banged on the door, Tig simply didn't respond. The fucking childish git needed grow the fuck up as far as Chibs was concerned. The man claimed to care so much for Boo and yet he was willing to sit in his room sulking, making Boo feel even more hurt and upset than she already was! "Come on, stop bein' a dick and come talk to yer girl." Chibs growled, giving the door a kick for good measure. Still, there was no response from Tig, just silence. After a moment Boo placed her hand on Chibs shoulder.

"Maybe it'd be better if it was just me and him?" she suggested, knowing that Tig didn't like to take down his walls and show his true emotions in front of anyone but her. Maybe he'd come out and say goodbye to her, apologise for acting like such a child if she was alone. "You know he doesn't like to be Mr. Emotional in front of anyone." She added with an amused tut and a roll of her eyes. It astounded her, always had done, that Tig would take down his walls and be himself for her and her alone. She often wondered what made her so special as to deserve such an honour from one of SAMCRO's most secretive and hardened members.

Chibs nodded knowing as well as Boo did that his Sergeant at Arms was a completely different man when alone with the girl he considered to be his daughter. This was a side of Tig that no one but Boo ever saw... he didn't even let Chibs see that man, despite the fact that Chibs and Boo were together and had been for well over 3 years now.

"Aye, yer probably right Hen, I'll wait down at the van okay?" he agreed, kissing Boo on the cheek before heading out the door with the remainder of Boo's things. He just hoped that Tig would be man enough to say goodbye to his little girl, to put her out of her misery. If he didn't, then Chibs knew his first night living with his Ol' Lady would not be a happy one.

"Yeah." Boo nodded as she watched Chibs go with a saddened smile on her lips. She waited until she heard the main door to the building open and close before she knocked on Tig's door again. "Tig? Come on it's just me now..." she assured him softly, hoping desperately that Tig would just open the door and hug her. She hated that she was the cause of his anguish, that she was upsetting him by moving in with Chibs but _he_ had been the one to ask her to move out, _he_ was the one that didn't want her living with him anymore.

"Fuck. Off." Growled Tig from the other side of the door with such venom and anger in his voice that Boo couldn't stop the tears that automatically sprang to her eyes. Why was he being so difficult? Why couldn't he just come out and say goodbye, put behind them all this stupidity?

"Tig, please!" Boo said, voice faltering only a little, the faintest trace of her despair lacing her otherwise calm tone. There was no reply and as Boo knocked on the door again, she realised that it wasn't locked. If it was then she'd have heard the lock rattle as she knocked on the door, but she hadn't, meaning that she was free to simply open the door and walk into Tig's room. "I'm opening the door..." she informed Tig, feeling that it was only fair that she gave him some prior warning to her entering his bedroom. Tig again said nothing, didn't even protest at her entrance into his room. "Oh Tig..." Boo gasped, tears spilling free from her eyes at the sight that appeared before her once she'd opened Tig's bedroom door wide.

Her guardian, the man she considered to be her father, was sprawled out in his bed surrounded by empty beer bottles and overflowing ashtrays. The air was thick with the smell of beer, stale smoke and sweat, the room dark as the curtains were shut, lit only by a small lamp in the corner of the room; the shadows and dim light of which only managed to make Tig look as terrible as possible. His eyes were bloodshot, sunken into his head and ringed red, blighted even more so by dark shadows beneath them. His clothes were filthy and rumbled, stained with beer, ash and a few days worth of sweat. His hair was a limp and lifeless grease ball atop of his head and he looked as though he hadn't eaten for days. Boo felt her heart break at the sight of Tig, she'd never seen him so distressed before, so utterly broken. And she was the cause of that; she was the reason behind his despair... For a moment, or maybe two, Boo considered just getting Chibs to just bring all her things back up to the apartment but soon pushed that idea aside, knowing it to be futile. Neither Chibs nor Tig would allow such a thing to happen; Chibs because finally, his Ol' Lady was going to be living with him and he didn't want to let her go. And Tig because he was a stubborn bastard that was still insistent that he didn't want Boo living with him a moment longer, despite his current state.

"I said fuck off!" Tig barked at Boo, turning away from her and burying his head in his pillow so that he didn't have to look at his little girl's distraught and heartbroken expression, so that he didn't have to see the tears that were tumbling thick and fast down her cheeks. He knew he was being an asshole, knew that he should just turn around and hug Boo, tell her that he loved her, that he was sorry and that the reason he was being such a jerk was because he was going to miss her terribly but he couldn't bring himself to do as such. It was just too hard to say goodbye to Boo, to the daughter that had lived with him in the end for more than five years, the girl that had given him a reason to come home and just be himself. _It was easier to be a jerk and act like he didn't give a shit._ "Go out, get outta here!" Tig added when he realised Boo hadn't left, but was still hovering in his bedroom doorway waiting for a goodbye he wasn't going to give her. "You don't live here anymore, fuck off; I don't want you in my home!" he screeched angrily when still Boo did not move. The truth of course, couldn't be further from Tig's words. He did want Boo in his home, he didn't want her to move out at all, but it had long since been time for her to move out and move in with Chibs, who she'd been with now for more than three years.

Boo scowled at that, despair making way for anger somewhat. Tig was making it sound as if _she_ was the one who had decided to move out, as if _she_ had just decided out of the blue to pack up her bags and live with Chibs! _Tig_ was the one ordering her to move out, _Tig_ was the one who'd insisted it was time for her to live with Chibs!

"Why are you being such a dick Tig? This was your idea, me moving out!" she snapped at him, arms folded tight across her chest. Inside she was fighting one hell of a range of emotions, on one had she just wanted to scream at Tig, to shout and swear until he gave in and apologised, said goodbye. On the other she wanted to weep, to drop to her knees and beg him to just talk to her, to admit that he was going to miss her as much as she'd miss him. But mostly, she just wanted to turn her back on the pathetic excuse for a man that lay before her, to walk out of Tig's apartment and not say a word to the man she considered to be her father until he grew a pair and apologised to her.

"Get out!" Tig snarled, now totally fed up with Boo's presence in his home. He just wanted her to go so that he could once again give into his emotions and just weep... he couldn't do such a thing with her standing there in the door looking at him in such despair, waiting on him to just give in and say goodbye. To make sure Boo left, Tig grabbed an empty beer bottle from his side turned and hurled it in Boo's general direction with all his might. It shattered against the wall just to the right of Boo's head and the young woman couldn't help but scream and cover her head with her hands as she fled the room. Tig didn't care though, wasn't at all bothered by the fact that he'd scared her and almost hurt her, all he cared about was that she was now gone and that he could give into his grief in peace.

Boo fled the apartment in tears, distraught and in disbelief that Tig could treat her in such a way. She couldn't get her head around the fact that Tig was not only being a total and complete jerk but had also thrown a glass bottle at her in order to make her leave the apartment! She knew he was hurting, knew that he didn't want to show how he was really feeling but that gave him no right to throw things at her! She was so angry at Tig, livid with him for his cruel and callous actions but at the same time she couldn't help but feel sorry for him, couldn't help but understand why he was acting the way he was...

"Boo? Woah, hey darlin' wait up..." Chibs cried grabbing his girls arm as she tried to dash part him, tear streaked face buried in her hands. He knew at once that something was terribly wrong, that Tig had said or done something to really upset Boo. Chibs wanted nothing better in that moment than to march back into Tig's apartment and punch him square in the face with all his might, but knew without a shadow of a doubt that Boo would never allow him to do such a thing, so he kept the urge to himself. "What's wrong?" he asked Boo, embracing her as she fell into his arms and buried her face in the crook of his neck. Her whole body convulsed with the intensity of her sobs, her tears dampened the skin of his neck and she held onto him so tight, Chibs was certain that had she been a little stronger she could have choked the air out of his lungs.

Boo was in two minds as to whether she should tell Filip the truth about what Tig had just done. Whilst she knew that Chibs would go insane, that he'd storm back into the apartment, smack Tig straight in the face and demand that he apologise to her she knew that that would do no good, that Tig's apology – if it even came – would be empty, hollow and that by allowing Chibs to attack him, she'd hurt Tig even more so, would shatter his heart into yet more pieces.

"Why is he being so horrible to me Filip?" she wailed in the end, choosing to keep what Tig had done to herself. After all, it was probably just a one off; he'd come round to her and Chibs' place tomorrow sullen and full of remorse, begging to be forgiven. Chibs sighed wearily, unhappy that Boo had confirmed what he already knew to be true; that Tig had been an utter asshole to her, that he'd be so cruel to her he'd made her cry.

"Cause he's hurtin' Boo and he doesn't like to be hurtin'." Chibs said frankly, pushing a tender kiss to Boo's forehead. His girl nodded and sniffed, but otherwise didn't respond so Chibs gave her a moment to calm herself down a little before adding "Come on, let's get yeh home. Yeh'll feel much better once we're home." with a sly smirk on his lips. Boo chuckled at that, knowing exactly what Chibs planned to do to make her feel much better and quite frankly, it was exactly what she needed. It would drive away her despair and pain, would stop her from agonising over Tig, what he had done to her and how long it would be before he came round and begged for her forgiveness.

"Cause when we get home you're going to shag me senseless?" she asked hopefully, looking up at her man with an expectant grin.

"Somethin' like that." Chibs assured her with a wink before ducking down and pressing a deep and passionate kiss to his Ol' Lady's lips.

_**The next chapter will focus on both Boo and Tig's first night away from one another. **_

_**Until then reviews would be loved; they are extremely motivational and make my writing more than worthwhile!**_


	3. Empty Nests and Broken Homes

_Disclaimer – The characters of this fanfiction, as well as the 'Sons of Anarchy' world belong to Kurt Sutter, with the exception of 'Boo' Trager, who is an original character created by me. I make no profit from this work._

_**I missed your reviews in the last chapter of this story, there was only one. I'd love it if there were a few more for this chapter.**_

Chibs awoke just an hour or so after falling asleep to find Boo curled up on the edge of the bed, far away from him, tears in her eyes and a solemn expression on her face. She'd clearly moved away from him to avoid disturbing him and waking him, but the mere fact that her warm soft body was no longer curled around his was what had awoken Chibs in the first place.

"Hey now, what's all this about aye?" he asked as he ran the pad of his thumbs under Boo's eyes, which soon became damp with the tears that lingered in them. Chibs knew Boo's tears and obvious anguish were nothing to do with him and all to do with the fact that she'd just that day moved out of Tig's home, but asked jokingly if he was nevertheless. It might put a smile back on her face and cheer her up enough to make her come back to his arms. "I wasn't that bad tonight was I? I know I only had it in me teh go the once but yeh seemed teh really enjoy yerself..." he teased as he poked Boo on the end of her nose, a broad grin on his lips, eyes twinkling in amusement. A day of lugging around heavy boxes and travelling back and forth across Charming had left Chibs too tired for more than one good round of lovemaking with Boo before he'd fallen asleep. Boo hadn't seemed to mind though; she'd been contented to curl up at his side and fall asleep. Or at least, Chibs thought she had. He'd failed to remember how pained she was over leaving Tig to live alone, despite how despicable Tig had behaving towards her since ordering her to move out. "I've never failed teh make yeh cum yet have I?" Chibs went on, smile faltering at the mere suggestion that he'd failed in being able to make Boo orgasm. They'd made love hundreds of times, thousands even, and Chibs knew damn well Boo had cum every single time, because hell, if she didn't cum then what the hell was the point? It meant he wasn't doing something right! Boo was his Ol' Lady and Chibs felt like it was his duty to make her cum every time they had sex, after all if she didn't, then that didn't make _her_ bad in bed. It made _him_ bad in bed.

Boo couldn't help but laugh at that, despite how wrenched she felt. Damn Scotsman couldn't seem to keep his mind out of the gutter, or more importantly, away from her pussy.

"No... no it's not that." she assured Chibs as she shifted back towards him, falling into his arms the moment he opened them for her. It was good to be back within the safety of Chibs' arms, she felt happier at once, calmer, especially knowing that Chibs would let her talk as much as she needed to, knowing that he'd listen patiently all night if that was what she needed. "You were fantastic, you always are... and no, you've never ever failed to make me cum." she admitted truthfully, her cheeks flushing as Chibs gave a smug and pompous chuckle. Boo played with the idea of throwing in a line about an occasion or three when Chibs hadn't made her cum, but deemed this too mean. When it came to their sex life, Chibs had a very over inflated ego indeed and deflating that in any way would only made him pout and whine like a child. "I'm just... I..." she mumbled, tripping over her words as she battled to get them out. She felt so pathetic and childish, whining over Tig and the fact that she'd left him all alone. She was a grown woman, an Ol' Lady, she shouldn't be worrying about her daddy! She should be worrying more about the man whose arms in which she lay, the huge step they had just taken in their relationship and what it meant for them. Despite telling herself this, Boo wasn't able to stop herself from worrying about Tig; worry that soon had the tears in her eyes overflowing and steadily dripping down her cheeks, onto Chibs' bare chest.

"Yer missing Tig darlin', yeh feel bad about leaving him all alone and in such a bad way?" Chibs asked as he wiped away Boo's tears with the pad of his thumb before holding her closer still and pressing a whiskery kiss to her damp cheek. He didn't like that Boo was so upset over leaving Tig, but knew most of the blame for that fell on Tig's shoulders. If he'd just acted like an adult and said goodbye to her, treated her like normal before she'd left and given into his pain at her loss after she'd gone Boo would be coping with leaving so much better. But no, he'd acted like a child and in doing so he'd hurt Boo's feelings. Chibs wasn't going to let Tig get away with that...

"Yeah..." Boo nodded sorrowfully. She turned so that she was laying on her stomach, propped up by her forearms, atop of Chibs' torso. She offered him a weak smile as she rested her chin on her hands, which were clasped together on his chest before adding "Filip he's my daddy, he's looked after me for five and a half years now..." Boo paused for a moment, sighed, a scowl across her lips. In all honesty, after living with Tig for over five years she'd let herself believe she'd live with him forever... even imagining that one day, Chibs would move in with the pair of them and share the room that had once been her own. Of course this was all nonsense and Boo knew it – why on earth would Chibs want to live with his Ol' Lady and her daddy? The idea was absurd. Still, it was something that Boo had considered because in that reality, nobody got hurt. And Tig wasn't left to live all by himself. "And I just left him to live all alone when it's obvious he didn't want me to move out." Boo added. Sure Tig had asked her to move out, but it was more than obvious that he'd only done so because he believed Boo should be living with Chibs, not because he wanted her out of his home.

"Poor Hen..." Chibs said as he wrapped his arms around Boo's waist, one hand trailing comforting patterns up and down her bare back; something that made Boo smile and sighed contently. "Tiggy will be alright; he's just gotta get used to living without yeh." Chibs shrugged because in his mind, it was as simple as that. Give it time and Tig would be back to his annoying, sexual charged self. In fact he was probably already at the clubhouse, in the dorm room with a handful of beautiful ladies, the pain of Boo moving out long forgotten. "He's just being a dick cause he doesn't want to admit he's gonna miss yeh." Chibs added as he poked Boo on the end of the nose. Boo giggled and nodded, knowing Chibs was right.

"I know." she said. Tig could be stubborn as fuck when he wanted to be, especially when it came to hiding the fact that he was in emotional turmoil and today was no exception. He hide that emotional pain by acting like the worlds biggest asshole, behaviour that would only get worse the more people tried to get him to admit he was hurting. "I just feel so bad." Boo went on, to which Chibs tutted and rolled his eyes. His girl had this way of letting herself feel bad over things that were both beyond her control and not her fault at all.

"Course yeh do lovely, but what he's going through is completely normal." Chibs said with a simple shrug of his shoulders. Boo scowled in confusion, unsure what Chibs meant. Maybe this was normal Tig behaviour with everyone else, but he'd never acted this way with her. Well, not since she'd become his apprentice at 15 anyways. "Empty nest syndrome... he ain't got anyone to look after anymore and he doesn't know what to do with himself." Chibs explained. Tig's behaviour reminded him of the way his mother had acted when her youngest child Cat – Chibs sister and Padraic's mother - had moved out. She'd been devastated, pretty much ignoring all her children as she drifted through day to day, a black cloud if despair hanging over her. It wasn't until a few months later, when Cat called from Ireland to invite her mother to her wedding, that Bonnie Telford became herself again. She'd died not long after that, thankfully after meeting baby Padraic but long before Chibs had meet Fiona, but for her last few months of life, she'd enjoyed being able to live freely, without her children to constantly take care off. "My mother was the same once all us kids moved out... She was sad fer a long time, but over time things got better... she just had teh learn how to function without a few wee one's to chase after." Chibs knew that Tig would be the same; that in time something would snap some sense into him and he'd be his annoying old self once again. Until then, Boo would just have to put up with Tig and the childish way in which he was acting. The Scotsman didn't tell this to Boo though, however Boo seemed to get the message. She sighed heavily and rolled off Chibs, before heading to the door and opening the door for Tillie, who had been scratching at it and pining for her owner. Immediately, the tiny dog dashed in to the bedroom and jumped up onto the bed, where she curled up at Chibs side, her eyes on Boo, an expression on her face that made it obvious she wanted a scratch behind her ear.

"Maybe we should get him a puppy or something?" Boo chuckled as she gave Tillie the attention she wanted. Tig had always loved Tillie and no doubt he'd miss her as much as he was missing Boo. Maybe what he needed was a puppy of his very own to raise and train, to give him something to do other than miss his little girl.

"Aye, maybe." Chibs nodded smiling softly as he watching Boo lavish attention on Tillie. "Tell yeh what Boo, hows about yeh go round there on Sunday... spend the day with him, let him know yeh still need him." he added after a moment. He and Boo were meant to be spending Sunday together; they had no real plans of yet, they were going to see where the day took them, but they'd set aside the whole day for themselves knowing that up and coming work commitments – from both the garage and the club on Chibs part and from Boo's publishers – meant their first few weeks living together would be spent mostly apart.

Boo grinned at that. It had been Chibs suggestion to spend Sunday together and now he was willing to sacrifice that time together in order for Boo to go and mend her relationship with her father. It was little things like that that made Boo love him even more.

"Yeah... okay I'll do that." she agreed with a nod of her head. "Thank you Filip." she added, ducking down to press a chaste kiss to Chibs' lips.

"No problem lassie." Chibs grinned as he snaked his arms around Boo's waist and deepened the kiss. Boo tutted but nevertheless parted her lips and kissed Chibs back passionately, her fingers automatically tracing the scars on his cheeks, which make the Scotsman groan and whimper softly in delight. It took him all of about five seconds to pull Boo into the bed with him. "Now come here!" he growled as he did so, which made Boo shriek and giggle in delight, her hip having rubbed up against Chibs' growing erection. Finally, her man was up for round two! Before Boo could so much as loosen Chibs pants however, there was a hammering at the door. "Ah Christ, who the fuck is that?" Chibs muttered in annoyance as he gently pushed Boo to the side. One thing was for certain however; due to the time of 2.23am, whoever it was was calling for a very bad reason indeed.

_**SAMCRO**_

Deputy Hale was used to this; turning up on the doors of members of SAMCRO at ridiculous hours of the morning for some reason or another. But there was something about this time that felt different, somehow he knew Tig hadn't gotten himself into a bar fight or attacked some random night club goer in a fit of blinding rage. Something was seriously wrong with him. Something that was confirmed when Tig opened the door, his face stark white, eyes ringed red and the stench of old sweat and stale beer about him.

"Hey Tig; gotta call from one of your neighbours." Hale said, eyebrow cocked, eyes occasionally glancing at the report in his hand. "They said it sounded like someone was trashing the place..." he added. The call had come in just half an hour previously; one of Tig's neighbours had finally caved in after two hours of noise to report the disturbance. Obviously, the noise had been awful, prolonged and frightening because normally, Tig's neighbours would be far to scared of his backlash to report such a disturbance.

"Yeah, so?" Tig shrugged, scowling at Hale, his eyes narrowed and ablaze with menace. He didn't care who had called Hale in, they were going to pay for messing with his business. He didn't want or need Hale coming round to sniff around in his life! He'd deal with his own shit in his own goddamn way.

Hale was far too used to Tig to be even remotely phased by his glare, a glare that would no doubt unnerve and intimidate some of his colleagues. He simply sighed and tucked his notepad into his belt, before folding his arms and giving Tig a serious look.

"So? Mind telling me what's going on?" he asked in a firm and determined tone. He wanted to get an answer out of Tig because clearly, something had really unsettled him. If Tig lived alone it wouldn't be so bad, but he didn't, he lived with Boo and that worried Hale. He didn't at all like the idea that Tig might kick off and go crazy with that young woman living with him. He could really hurt her if he wasn't careful.

"Nah, don't think so deputy." Tig scoffed at Hale's words, sneering at him like he was a piece of dirt he dearly wanted to just wash away forever. He wished he really could just wash Hale away; the guy was far to nosy for his own goddamn good and he just wouldn't fall into line with Clay like Unser had done. He was dangerous for SAMCRO. "That's my business." Tig went on, going to shut the door at the same time. Hale however, had other ideas; he placed his foot in the doorway to prevent Tig from closing it. The Sergeant at Arms hated the cocky, smug little look that appeared on Hale's face in that moment. _Asshole_! "Now unless you wanna come in and suck my dick I suggest you get outta the way." Tig snarled, stepping forward and giving Hale a hefty shove. In doing so he revealed his hands; battered and split at the knuckles, they were slowly dripping blood onto the floor below. Hale, never one for the sight of blood, paled slightly at the sight.

"Shit... you need someone to take a look at your hands Tig; those wounds are pretty bad." he whispered to Tig, barely able to take his eyes off of Tig's bloody fingers. The wounds looked deep, some were embedded with tiny wooden splinters and all were steadily bleeding. Tig didn't seem to care and if the wounds hurt at all, he didn't see to notice for sickeningly, he cracked his knuckles with a menacing yet rather vulnerable looking snarl.

"I'll live." Tig drawled, barely noticing the unbearable pain that shot up his fingers as he cracked his knuckles. He'd not noticed the pain when he'd smashed his fists into the wall either; he was so blinded by rage at himself for the way he'd treated Boo before she'd left and by the emotional pain he felt by her loss that it was a long time before he even realised the damage he'd done to himself.

Hale saw behind Tig in that moment, getting a good look into his and Boo's apartment. It was a tip; bits of broken furniture littered the living area, pictures hung off the wall, their frames broken, glass shattered, the vases of flowers that Boo often dotted around the place had been hurled against the walls, which were littered with holes stained with Tig's blood and dozens of empty, broken bottles of booze lay scattered across the stained floor. Something really awful had gone down; Hale wondered if Tig had gotten some extremely bad news. Had one of his daughters died perhaps? Or was a member of the Son's going to jail? Or, worse still, was Boo back on the drugs that had almost claimed her life three years previously? Hale could only hope that this wasn't the case. Despite her unsavoury associations, Boo Trager was better than that.

"Jesus!" Hale said, stepping past Tig and into the apartment, ignoring Tig's growl of protest as he did so. He'd never seen such a mess before! Not even in the worst of crime-scenes. What in God's name had made Tig do such a thing? Hale stopped moving the instance he heard glass crunch under his feet. He didn't dare go in any further, for fear of his own safety. Not only could he hurt himself on the glass, or the broken furniture, but Tig was now looking pretty volatile and like he could blow again at any moment. "Why did you trash your own apartment Tig?" Hale asked, hoping to get enough of an answer out of Tig to put the truth together himself. He knew damn well he'd never get the full story for the blue eyed mechanic.

"It's my place deputy, I can do whatever the hell I want with it." Tig shrugged, his mind flashing with memories of what had happened just moments after he'd watched Boo and Chibs drive away to the home they now called theirs. A home that had previously just been Chibs', a home that didn't include Tig. He'd lost it as soon as the club van was out of sight. He'd grabbed a hold of whatever was close – which turned out to be one of the empty beer bottles that littered his bedroom floor - and had hurled it with all his might to the living room floor. He'd not stopped after that, he'd just continued to grab and hurl, going from his bedroom to the living room, moving from beer bottles to picture frames, to furniture. Eventually, he'd just started pounding at walls, harder and harder, until they were riddled with holes and dripping with his blood. Yet still none of that had been enough to drive away the ache of loss that had filled him since telling Boo to move out, nor had it stopped him feeling any less angry at himself for his cruel behaviour towards Boo before she'd left. Didn't matter anyways, he'd been such a jerk that now he really would lose her forever. She'd never want anything to do with him again. She'd be like Dawn, only coming to him when she was in trouble or wanted something. Or like Fawn, who never came to see him at all.

"What about Boo Tig? Surely she wouldn't want her home trashed like this." Hale asked, which seemed to stir something in Tig. The anger in his face melted away and made way somewhat for sorrow, loss and regret. Something clicked in Hale's mind. Boo and Tig had had a fight and she'd gone to Chibs' place for the evening. This wasn't uncommon, the pair were basically father and daughter so of course they fought a lot, but never before had Tig trashed the place because of a stupid fight with Boo. He normally laughed it off with a few drinks and a dance down at the Jelly-bean. "You guys have a fight or something?" Hale asked, the softest hint of a smirk forming on his lips. All this because of a silly fight with his kid? Tig was going soft in his old age!

Tig didn't like the way Hale was looking at him, like he was some big fucking joke, nor did he like the fact that he'd brought up Boo. Yeah, so Boo was the reason he'd trashed the place, so what? That wasn't any of his business now was it? Now completely fed up with Hale and his questioning, Tig shoved him right out of the door with one huge shove.

"Boo doesn't live here anymore." he said simply as he slammed the door in Hale's face. Now exhausted, Tig longed for nothing more than to crawl into bed... and to wake with Boo curled up at his side because she knew he was hurting and wanted to comfort him... That of course wasn't going to happen so instead, Tig contented himself by throwing himself down on Boo's bare bed fully clothed where he crashed out in an instance.

Hale on the other hand had gone straight down to his Jeep, his mind set on going to Chibs' place knowing full well that that's where Boo would be. And that she now lived with the Scotsman whose Ol' Lady she'd been for years now. He hoped that if Boo called Tig, or went over to talk to him she'd settle him down in a way only she knew how and things would be right with the Sergeant at Arms once again.

"Hey Chibs... is Boo in?" Hale asked as soon as the Scotsman opened the door. Chibs didn't look best pleased to see Hale on the other side of his door and from the way he shifted himself so that his lower half was hidden behind the door, Hale was certain he'd interrupted the happy couple as they'd christened they home that was now theirs.

"Aye she is..." Chibs nodded. He wasn't best pleased to see Hale, especially since he and Boo were working their way to round two, but he kept a straight and calm face as he addressed the deputy, knowing that whatever he had to say was bad or he wouldn't be calling at such an hour. He'd done nothing to warrant his arrest of late, apart from the usual gun smuggling of course, so it was best to play it safe, innocent and ignorant of any accusations Hale threw his way. His was dumbfounded however, when Hale asked after Boo. His girl had done nothing wrong, this Chibs knew for certain, but there was something about the way Hale had worded his request that made Chibs stop and think. . He'd asked if Boo was _in_, not if she was here. Chibs knew that meant Hale knew Boo now lived with him, which could only mean Tig had done something idiotic and rash which had called for police intervention. Chibs sighed and sauntered back to the bedroom, where Boo was perched on the foot of the bed, wrapped in her dressing gown, waiting nervously for him. She looked up expectantly when Chibs entered the room, confusion marring her pretty face, Tillie curled up asleep in her arms. "Boo, darlin', deputy Hale is here teh see yeh." Chibs said, nodded his head towards the front door. Out of fear of being wrong, he gave Boo no hint as to why he believed Hale had asked for her, instead choosing to just press a reassuring kiss to her cheek as she headed towards the front door, taking Tillie from her in the same instance. The little dog whimpered at being parted from Boo but nevertheless, scrambled for some affection and attention from Chibs. The Scotsman gladly gave both, glad that Tillie was finally warming to him now that she called his apartment home.

"Deputy Hale? How can I help you?" Boo asked as she went to the front door, indeed finding deputy Hale there waiting for her. She was just as confused by his presence as she had been when Chibs had told her that he was here to see her, but from the look on Hale's face, she was certain it was something to do with Tig. Suddenly terrified, sick with fear at the idea that Tig might have really hurt himself, Boo gulped and wiped at her suddenly sweaty brow with her shaking hand. "It's Tig isn't it?" she asked, to which Hale nodded. _Oh shit..._ Boo thought nervously. What the hell had her former guardian gone and done?

_**In the next chapter, Chibs finally confronts Tig about the way he has been behaving. **_

_**Until then reviews would be loved; they are extremely motivational and make my writing more than worthwhile.**_


	4. Violence

_Disclaimer – The characters of this fanfiction, as well as the 'Sons of Anarchy' world belong to Kurt Sutter, with the exception of 'Boo' Trager, who is an original character created by me. I make no profit from this work._

After speaking with deputy chief Hale for more than half an hour about Tig, the fact that he'd asked her to move out and his erratic and rather volatile behaviour since then, Boo decided that she'd wait until morning to go and see him. She was drained after spending the day packing and moving her stuff from Tig's to the apartment she now shared with Chibs, especially after the energetic romp she'd shared with Filip once they were home. Bedside's she was in no mood to talk to Tig. She was totally annoyed with him and fed up with his childish and cruel behaviour. He needed to grow up and deal with the fact that she'd moved out. Filip offered to drive her to work the next morning, so she asked him to stop off at Tig's on the way. Chibs agreed, but rather reluctantly so. He wanted Tig to 'stew in his own juices' and for Boo to leave him alone until he was man enough to come and talk to her and apologise.

"Tig?" Boo called, knocking on the door as she opened it, knowing it was likely that Tig would be in a state and might need the chance to cover himself up before she went in. Something that had happened a fair few times in the first few months that Boo had lived with him. The door however, wouldn't open. In fact Boo's key didn't fit in the lock at all. Tig had changed the locks. Both annoyed and rather hurt by this, Boo started hammering on the door with her fist. "Open the door, it's me!" she called, for she knew for certain that Tig was in. He never left for work on time, at best leaving the apartment five minute's before his shift at Teller-Morrow started. There was still almost half an hour until the garage opened so Boo knew Tig would be dragging himself out of bed, venturing in the fridge for a morning beer or milk for his coffee, depending on the size of his hangover. Considering how drunk he'd been when she'd last seen him, Boo was willing to bet he was drinking a coffee that was more whiskey than it was anything else. "Seriously, I'm fed the fuck up of this shit, come and talk to me!" Boo yelled, hammering even harder still when Tig neither answered her calls nor opened the door. Still, Tig did not answer the door, but when Boo fell quiet, she could hear him moving around. That really pissed her off; she hated it when Tig ignored her because it reminded her of how Clay had treated her her whole life, how he'd ignored her even when they'd lived under the same roof. Boo had tolerated it when Tig had ignored her before, knowing he was hurting and just trying to hide it, but now his childish behavior just angered her. In fact it angered her so much, she couldn't help but lash out at the door, kicking it with all her might, the tears that formed in her eyes as she did so having nothing to do with the pain in her toes. "Come on you asshole, I know you're in there! Talk to me, I'm really worried about you!" she barked as she kicked the door again, her voice so loud it echoed harshly in the small, dank communal hallway. Still Tig did not come to the door, yet still Boo could hear him moving around in the apartment – he kept knocking things over. Clearly he was still drunk from the night before. Noticing that her anger was getting her nowhere, Boo stepped away from the door and raked her hands through her hair, took a few deep breathes to try and calm herself. Tig never responded well when she yelled at him, even if she was justified in doing so. After a minute or so, Boo felt calm enough to knock again. She was still mad at Tig and still wanted to scream and yell at him, but she felt calm enough not too. "Daddy..?" she called, somewhat timidly, as she rapped her knuckles against the door. She pressed her ear against the door as she knocked, listened very carefully and noted that all sounds of Tig moving around inside stopped the second she called out 'daddy'. Was Tig finally going to come to the door and talk to her? Or had he just passed out because he was still that drunk?

"Hen?" came Chibs voice, startling Boo so much she shrieked softly and jumped. The Scotsman had gotten concerned as he'd waited outside Tig's apartment block after hearing Boo's raised voice and her continued hammering on the door.

"He changed the locks Filip." Boo sighed as she turned to look at Chibs, the realization of what that meant hitting her like a ton of breaks, causing a few stray tears to suddenly tumble down her cheeks. "He doesn't want me anymore…" she whispered softly, certain that this was so. What other explanation was there? Sure, he was hurting and sure whenever he was hurting he acted like a jerk and hid how he was really feeling behind a wall of alcohol, abusive language and violence but she was his daughter, she was _Boo_! No matter how hard Tig as hurting he always managed to talk to her about it. _Always_. And now he was just pushing her away, ignoring her, treating her like scum. Clearly he was fed up of playing daddy to her and just wanted her out of his life.

"Hey now, I'm sure that's not true." Chibs insisted as he stepped forward and took both of Boo's hands in his own. "Yeh heard what Hale said, he trashed the place. He probably broke the lock or somethin'." Chibs said frankly, looking deep into Boo's eyes, He very much wanted her to believe what he was saying, despite the fact he didn't believe for a second that Tig had broke the locks on his door when he'd trashed the place. Boo just needed to believe him, at least until he'd had a chance to go and speak to Tig himself, to knock some sense into the idiot if he had too. If nothing else his bullshit would stop Boo despairing for a little while longer. _He hated to see her so upset. _

"Yeah…. Maybe." Boo sighed, nodding her head before offering Chibs a weak smile. She didn't believe for a second that Tig had broken the lock during his drunken rampage but she understood what Chibs was trying to do and she was thankful for it. "Come on, we're going to be late for work." She sighed as she looked down at her watch. They still had plenty of time to get to the garage but the both of them liked to get to work a little early so that they didn't get stuck with any of the crappy, long-winded or complicated jobs. "I can talk to him there." She added hopefully, a vague notion in her mind that maybe, a night away from his little girl – a night in which he'd trashed his apartment and gotten a visit from the police – might have snapped a little sense in him and that maybe, he just didn't want her to see the extent of the damage in the apartment.

"Aye, come on then darlin'." Chibs nodded, smiling down at Boo as he slipped an arm around her waist and steered her back outside and towards his bike. They soon pulled in at Teller-Morrow and after sharing a quick cup of tea together, they changed into their work shirts. "I'm on repo work today; I'll see you later okay Boo?" Chibs said as he buttoned his shirt. He kissed Boo briefly on the lips before grabbing the list of cars that needed to be repossessed and the keys to the tow-truck from inside the office.

"Okay; I'll see you at home later." Boo grinned, kissing Chibs one last time before heading into the office herself to wait for Gemma. She watched as Chibs hauled himself into the tow-truck, her eyes on his ass, and waved him goodbye as he drove out of the lot. A few minute's later, Gemma entered the office. "Hey Gem, is Tig in today?" Boo asked before Gemma had even taken her sunglasses off, her question the sole reason she'd waited in the office for Gemma. She had a nasty feeling that Tig had called in sick to avoid her. After all if he had no qualms about changing his locks and refusing to answer the door in an effort to avoid her, he'd have no problem skipping work to do the same.

"No baby, he called in sick today." Gemma said as she sat down next to Boo, confirming the young authors fears. Boo flashed Gemma a smile, tried her best not too look to upset or angry at the news.

"Oh… he wasn't at home this morning." She said with a shrug of her shoulders, her voice a little higher than usual. She wasn't able to look Gemma in the eye as she spoke. "Well; I don't know, I could hear him in there. I think." She added, her cheeks flushing pink as she rambled uncertainly.

Gemma, unaware of the troubles between Boo and Tig yet certain something as upsetting her stepdaughter all the same, put her hand over Boo's and smiled at her knowingly.

"He's probably got a hangover and is dead to the world." She said, certain that the reason for Boo's obvious misery was that she was missing her father after spending her first night away from him since moving out. She remembered Jax's first night away from home after he'd moved out. She'd cried in Clay's arms all night and Jax, who'd acted cocky, pleased and cheerful about the move during the day, had called her just before midnight to tell her that he missed and loved her. At work the next morning, the first thing he'd done was hug her tight. Boo nodded at Gemma's words, but she didn't say anything to them. Tig probably did have an awful hangover and may well be dead to the world, but she knew that wasn't the real reason he'd called in sick. _It was because he was avoiding her because he didn't want her anymore…_ "Boo?" Gemma asked as silent tears started tumbling down Boo's cheeks. "You okay sweetheart?" she asked. Boo shook her head frantically and drew in a few shallow, haggard breathes as she fought to compose herself. Gemma passed her some tissues and she furiously wiped at her eyes, mad at herself for letting herself get so upset, and in front of Gemma too.

"Something is really wrong Gem." She admitted, turning her tear filled gaze onto the matriarch. Her stepmother was looking at her with the utmost concern and Boo knew she couldn't lie to her about what was going on with Tig. Gemma had known Tig a hell of a lot longer than she had; maybe she could offer her some advice, tell her what she should do to repair her relationship with him. "I really upset Tig moving out; he won't talk to me, he's drinking loads, he's being violent…" she confessed tearfully, shuddering softly as she remembered the way Tig had pushed her, the way he'd thrown an empty beer bottle at her head. She was terrified that if she continued to push Tig, to try and see him or talk to him when he obviously wanted nothing to do with her, then he'd become more violent still.

Gemma scowled at that, not liking what she was hearing. This all sounding far too familiar and reminded Gemma of the way Tig had acted after losing Dawn and Fawn. He'd shut himself off from the world, drunk himself into oblivion day after day and had become increasingly violent to those that dared to cross him as time wore on. By the time Gemma and Clay had intervened, he'd put a prospect in hospital just for delivering a message from Clay and he'd become so physically dependant on alcohol, he shook violently if he couldn't have a drink, was horribly ill. It'd taken weeks of 'detox' at Clay and Gemma's before he was somewhat himself again. Now it seemed, dealing with Boo moving out was sending Tig back to that dark place and he was taking that out on Boo, pushing her away because it hurt too much to miss her. Gemma knew she'd have to intervene before he pushed her away completely or before he did something to her he'd surely regret.

"With you?" Gemma asked, eyebrow cocked, needing to know how bad things were with Tig already so she could work out how best to approach the situation. Boo's face paled at that, her eyes dropped to the floor and at once Gemma knew that already, Tig had been violent with her in some way. He was spiraling out of control a lot faster than she'd realized.

"Sorta…" Boo admitted with a shrug of her shoulders, not wanting to fully admit to Gemma what Tig had done to her. She felt like she was overreacting a little to what he'd done; sure he'd given her a bit of a shove and thrown an empty beer bottle in her general direction… it wasn't like he'd hit her, punched her in the face or slapped her around. He just needed time to calm down and then he'd be fine and he'd apologize for what he'd done. That is, if he still wanted her. "What?" she asked, when she caught Gemma giving her a skeptical, yet rather thoughtful look. Gemma smiled weakly at that, shook her head and patted Boo's hand once again.

"Nothing baby, just give him a few days and things will be okay again." She assured her, before encouraging her to go and get on with some work as it'd distract her and make her feel better. She was determined to intervene with Tig before it got too late and made a promise to herself that in 'a few days' things would be okay with Tig and Boo again because she was going to put them right.

_**SAMCRO**_

Despite having half a dozen cars to repossess before lunch, Chibs headed straight back over to Tig's apartment. He knew the bastard was in there, knew he wouldn't bother turning up to work after the way he'd acted the night before and so he took it as a prime opportunity to confront him about it. Nobody treated his Ol' Lady in the way Tig had done in the last few days. _Nobody_. Chibs didn't care if Tig was her father, his superior within the club; he was going to have it out with him.

"Open the fuck up Trager!" Chibs barked, hammering the door with his fist. He waited less than five seconds for Tig to open the door before his temper got the better of him and he kicked the door open, one swift and hard kick doing the job, practically ripping the door off its hinges. He pushed the ricocheting door open and marched in, finding a slightly startled looking and very hung-over Tig standing at the end of the hall. He was swaying softly and he reeked of sweat, stale beer and whiskey. He looked an utter mess: his fingers were bruised and scabbing over, his skin thick with filth and grim, his hair a tattered mess, his clothes rumbled and filthy, covered in stains. Chibs didn't give a damn how bad of a state he was in because he was hurting Boo, both emotionally and physically and that didn't wash with the Scotsman. _Not at all_.

"What did you do to my door?" Tig drawled, eyes barely focusing on the dented wooden door, his voice distinct, words slurred. Chibs continued to move towards Tig, getting right up in his face. The smell of Tig made him feel sick but he didn't bother to hide the disgust on his face. In fact, he wanted Tig to see it, wanted the Sergeant at Arms to see just how disgusted he was with him, just how pissed off he was at him.

"If yeh'd opened the damn thing, I wouldn't have had teh kick it down." Chibs barked as he pressed his forehead against Tig's, his eyes wide and livid, shaking with the amount of anger that was in him. Tig didn't flinch or jerk away as Chibs did that, not even when he fisted the front of his shirt and shoved him against the wall, pressing his face against Tig's again before the sound of his head hitting the wall had even rung out into the hallway. "Now, tell me something Trager, why the hell are yeh treating my Ol' Lady like a piece of shit?" Chibs drawled dangerous, eyes dark and almost black. He knew the answer of course, Tig was hurting over the fact that Boo was moving out, that he was 'losing' her, Chibs just wanted to hear him say it. The ironic thing was that Tig wasn't losing Boo just because she was moving out, like he feared. The reason he was losing her was because he was acting like a jerk, pushing her away and treating her like a piece of shit because he was scared of losing her.

Chibs was startled when Tig started laughing, the sound cold and hollow, almost disturbing. He pushed Chibs back a little and shook his head. Chibs knew before he'd even opened his mouth that the bastard was going to deny that he was treating Boo badly. Chibs felt himself grow ever more enraged.

"I'm not, she's just upset cause she moved out." Tig said with a shrug of his shoulders, despite being under no delusions about why Boo was so upset. He was hurting her and he knew it but he just didn't want to admit how much he moving out was hurting him. It made him feel too weak, too vulnerable. When he was ignoring Boo, yelling at her or whatever, yeah he was an asshole but at least he wasn't weak.

Chibs gave a soft growl at that and slammed Tig against the wall once again. How dare he suggest that the only reason Boo was upset was because she'd moved how, how fucking dare he! He knew damn well his pathetic, cruel behavior was the real source of her pain and it was now obvious to the Scotsman that he neither wanted to admit that nor apologize for it.

"Oh aye, she's upset all right." Chibs snarled, heart giving a painful twinge as he remembered how hurt, how terrified Boo had looked when she'd emerged from Tig's apartment the night before, just before they'd gone home. _He never wanted to see her look so anguished ever again._ "Cause yeh won't so much as be in the same room as her, cause yeh ignore her and when she tries her damn best to get through to yeh, yeh throw glass fuckin' bottles at her." Chibs drawled, eyes flashing ever more dangerously with every word he spoke. Tig's face contorted into a mixture of confusion and fear when Chibs mentioned the glass bottle, his eyes narrowed. Obviously he didn't think Boo would share that little bit of information with her old man. _And she hadn't_. Chibs had suspected such a thing had happened after Boo had emerged from Tig's as she'd reeked of beer suddenly and her clothes were damp and sticky. Not only that but she seemed very shaken up, more so than if Tig had just yelled at her. Knowing that he'd not get her to speak up about what had happened (she seemed determined to defend and protect Tig), Chibs had convinced her to have a drink with dinner because he knew that when Boo had had a drink, she talked in her sleep. On those rare occasions, you could ask Boo anything and she'd tell you the flat out, honest truth. Boo didn't know that Chibs knew about this and so had accepted the drink without question and sang like a bird when he'd got her talking once she'd fallen asleep. She'd told him not only about Tig throwing glass bottles at her, but about how he'd shoved her the night he'd asked her to move out. Chibs hadn't asked her for more information, almost fearful of what she might say. And what he might do as a result. "Don't think I don't know about that _brother_." Chibs barked, saying brother with such sickening disdain that it was almost like he was calling him the most vile and horrid name he could think up. "Did yeh feel like a big man when you launched that bottle at her head? Well did yeh?" he asked, shoving Tig against the wall once again, with such force the wall shook. That wasn't enough though, he wanted to ram Tig right through it. He deserved no better, in fact he deserved worse. "Or when yeh pushed her?" he went on, making Tig aware of the fact that he knew about that too. Tig didn't say a word and although he retained eye contact with Chibs (not that he had much choice; Chibs had his face pressed right up against Tig's) it was obvious he was struggling to do so and that he wanted to look away. "Did yeh feel like a big man, pushing yer defenseless daughter around cause yer too small a man teh admit yer gonna miss her? Huh?" he roared, his voice now so loud it echoed in the small hallway. Tig sneered at that, suddenly angry, and spat on the ground at Chibs feet. Boo wasn't a defenseless little girl! Yeh he'd given her a shove but she'd often proved that she was more than capable of giving just as good as she'd got. Over the years they'd lived together, Tig had playfully shoved her a number of times and she'd always shoved back twice as hard. He'd not used any more force than usual when he'd shoved her a week previously so he didn't see what the problem was. Especially since Boo would have been more than welcome to shove him right back. Of course, deep down, Tig knew this was utter bullshit. He knew he'd been awful to Boo, that he'd had to right to shove her like he had or throw things as her but he was too stubborn to admit this. Even to himself.

"I've not done shit to that girl but love her and put a roof over her head for over five goddamn years." Tig spat, making it seem like doing so had been more trouble that it was worth, like he'd not wanted her under his roof in the first place, like he was glad to be rid if her and like his love for her had never been real. Chibs snapped then, loosing what little of his cool he still had a hold of. Without hesitation and without holding back for the sake of his brother and friend at all, Chibs slammed his fist into Tig's face, slicing his cheek open with his rings, slamming his head back into the wall with a sickening thud. Despite that Tig laughed, cackled even, and spat on the floor once again, his phlegm red with the blood that had filled his mouth. "You're losing your touch Scotsman, I barely felt that." He chuckled, his words slightly slurred as he'd bitten down on the inside of his cheek as Chibs had punched him. Angered even more so by Tig's comments, Chibs tightened the grip his fingers had in the front of Tig's shirt before head butting him as hard as he could, catching him right on the nose. The Scotsman was sure he heard it break but, if nothing else, it started spewing bloody immediately and swelled up to twice it's usual size. When Chibs let Tig go he slumped down the wall, head ducked forward as he tried to control the bleeding. He hissed in pain as he cupped his nose, spat a mouthful of blood over the carpet.

"Did yeh feel that?" Chibs barked as Tig dropped to the floor. Tig didn't respond so Chibs crouched down in front of him, curled his fingers tight in Tig's matted curls before jerking his head up so that he was forced to look into his eyes. Chibs was pleased to see that Tig's eyes were already blackening, that his nose was indeed broken and that he was obviously in a large amount of pain. Chibs hadn't wanted to go to such an extend with Tig, but the Sergeant at Arms had left him with little choice. Despite this, Tig looked right into Chibs' eyes, his own eyes grey and cold, dull with pain, sluggish due to his blood loss. "Yer gonna apologize to _my_ girl and yer gonna put right the way yeh've treated her, yeh understand me?" Chibs drawled slowly, as if he were talking to an inept idiot, his eyes wide and practically popping out of his head.

"I've got nothing to put right." Tig snarled, eyes narrowed. He wasn't going to apologize to Boo for what he'd done because that meant admitting to what he'd done, meant admitting that he was hurting because Boo had moved out, because he really believed he was losing her. And he didn't want to do that.

Totally fed up with the situation and firm in the knowledge that he wasn't going to get what he wanted from Tig, Chibs let the Sergeant at Arms hair go, allowing his head to drop forward once again, allow Tig to spit the blood that had filled his mouth onto the floor. Chibs then stood, drew one his knifes from his holster before glaring down at Tig and brandishing the knife at him.

"Yeh better rethink that one Trager, or yeh'll learn the real reason why I earned the nickname 'Chibs'." He said dangerously before turning and hurling the knife down the hall. It hit the exact spot he'd been aiming for with a loud thud; a picture of Tig that still hung on the wall, the blade going right through his heart. Chibs then walked out without another word, without bothering to look at the bloodied and battered heap that was Tig again.

He didn't care if his actions had consequences, didn't care much at all what those consequences were, because he'd done it all for his girl, he'd done it all for Boo. He refused to let anyone treat her like shit and he was more than willing to tear apart anyone that did, no matter who they were.

_**There will be a bit of a time jump after this one, not sure how long it will be yet. Things will be getting no getter for Tig and Boo I'm afraid but there is some good news for Chibs and Boo. **_

_**Reviews would be loved; they are extremely motivational and make my writing more than worthwhile.**_


	5. Warning Signs

_Disclaimer – The characters of this fanfiction, as well as the 'Sons of Anarchy' world belong to Kurt Sutter, with the exception of 'Boo' Trager, who is an original character created by me. I make no profit from this work._

_**Sorry for the delay in this chapter, kinda lost my muse for this one. Hope you enjoy this chapter and thank you so much for all the reviews on the last! Really, you don't know how much they mean to me!**_

After Tig returned from St. Thomas, where he got his broken nose patched up, he grabbed a fresh, cold beer from the fridge and went and stood in the doorway of what had been Boo's room as he drank it. The room seemed so large and empty without her in it, hollow. There was almost no trace of his little girl left in that room and the Sergeant at Arms wondered if she'd done this on purpose… stripped all trace of herself from the room so she could act like she'd never been there in the first place. Tig scowled at that thought, certain there was some truth to it, and downed the rest of his beer in one before throwing the empty bottle aside. He walked into Boo's room, perched on the end of what had been her bed and closed his eyes, allowed himself to be consumed by memories of his daughter, the fun time's they'd had when she'd lived with him. The pranks they'd pulled on one another, the way she crawled into his bed when she was sick or scared, their disastrous attempts at cooking and even their fights – which were few and far in-between. He smiled at each memory, allowed them to warm his cold and aching heart. The five years that Boo had lived with him had been wonderful, full of fun and had made him feel so very loved and needed. Now that she was gone, the loneliness was crippling, his life felt dark and dull, as empty as the room in which he now sat. Tig wanted his little girl back but knew that now, after all he'd done to her, this really wasn't much of a possibility. The Sergeant at Arms allowed the tears in his eyes to fall – after all there was no one around to see them – and curled up in Boo's former bed clutching the pillow that still smelled so much like her with his memories and the faint hope that maybe, he hadn't lost her quite yet.

_**SAMCRO**_

Mere hours after Tig had fallen asleep, his was awoken by a light knocking at his door. He groaned and hid his head under Boo's pillow but the knocking continued so he got to his feet with a disgruntled sigh. His nose exploded with pain, bringing back in an instance the bitter memory of Chibs attack, and his stomach contorted painfully, the need to vomit consumed him. He made it to the bathroom just in time and emptied the watery contents of his stomach into the sink. The knocking continued, even as he hastily rinsed his mouth out and wiped at the thin film of sweat that seemed to be covering his entire being.

"Tig? It's Gemma, open up." Came the Matriarchs stern and yet concerned voice. Tig knew then that he had to answer for Gemma would not go away until he did, so he stumbled through the mess of his apartment to the front door, noticing as he did so, that his body was shaking involuntarily. He knew what that meant, what the vomiting and sweating meant; his body was becoming physically dependant on alcohol once again and was going through withdrawals. He also knew that if he didn't have a drink, he'd feel like this for hours, maybe even days but that if he had a drink, the feeling would stop in an instance. He grabbed a bottle of whiskey off the side as he headed to the door and downed the last remaining trickle, feeling better for it at once. "Jesus Christ!" Gemma gasped as Tig opened the door. The Sergeant at Arms was filthy and reeked of alcohol, his clothes stained by blood and booze alike. His nose had obviously been broken as there was a metal cast holding it together and his eyes were black with bruises, bruises that spread right across his face, barely getting any lighter in colour. "Did Chibs do that?" she asked as she reached out to touch Tig's nose. He allowed her too, hissed in pain at the contact so she drew her fingers away.

"Yeah, yeah he did." Tig nodded, for why lie? The truth would come out eventually; Chibs had hit him, Chibs had broken his nose and threatened him. All three were things that Clay could punish him for, or rather were if Chibs had done them without good reason. But he had good reason, he'd done it all for Boo and to avenge the ghastly way in which Tig was treating her.

"Shit…" Gemma cursed, near unable to believe that the Scotsman had done something so brutal to his brother. Still, she'd seen him put a Nomad in hospital once simply for flirting with Boo so she knew she shouldn't have been that surprised by his actions. "You should tell Clay about this; if Chibs had a problem with you, he should have taken it to the table." Gemma said with a shake of her head, her eyes catching sight of the shithole that was Tig's apartment as she did so. She knew at once that he was heading back to that dark and dangerous place he had been when he'd lost Dawn and Fawn. He was going to destroy himself if he didn't change his ways soon.

"No." Tig snapped at once, determined and certain "No, I deserved this." He insisted as he shook his head, fingers gesturing to his broken nose as he spoke. He deserved worse too, for the way he'd been treating Boo. He'd hurt his little girl more than he ever thought he could… he deserved everything that Chibs could throw at him and then some.

"What'd you do her?" Gemma asked at once, a knowing glint in her eye, a scowl on her lips that informed Tig that she wasn't impressed with him at all. She knew he had to have done something pretty darn awful to Boo for Chibs to attack him like this. "Tig." Gemma added sternly when the Sergeant didn't give her an immediate answer.

"I er…. I shoved her." Tig admitted shamefully, ducking his head as he spoke, his still shaking fingers raking through his greasy curls as the memory of shoving Boo hit him full on and made him feel like the most awful person in the entire world. "And the night she left? I threw a glass bottle at her head…. I've been treating her like shit Gem, ever since we agreed she'd move out." He added nervously, unwillingly. He kept his eyes on the ground as he spoke, raked his fingers through his hair again and again. Of all the awful, terrible things he'd done in his life none made him feel as terrible as the way he'd been treating Boo did.

"Oh honey; you need to get this under control." Gemma sighed as she hugged Tig, tilting her head as she did so that the rank smell of Tig didn't fill her nostrils. "Don't you see, you're going to end up in the same place you were in after you lost Dawn and Fawn?" she said as she rubbed his back. Tig leaned into her, held her close and tight. She noted that he was shaking ever so slightly and feared that he was barreling down the path of alcohol addiction once again.

"I'm fine Gem; I've got this under control." Tig whispered, glad that Gemma couldn't see his face because he knew she'd be able to tell that he was lying if she did. In truth he had nothing under control; he didn't know how to act around Boo anymore, how to talk to her without getting angry, scared and violent.

"If you keep this up, you're going to really hurt her." Gemma informed Tig sternly, pulling away from him and giving his shoulders a firm shake as she spoke. Tig nodded his head at that, understanding. The fact that he could, and had, hurt Boo terrified him beyond belief. He was scared to be around her because he knew what he might do to her if he was. "More than you already have." Gemma added, forcing Tig to remember how much he'd already hurt the girl he considered his daughter. She hoped that this would be enough to force him to change his ways. "Do you want her to end up like that prospect you put in hospital?" she asked. She was referring of course to the prospect Tig had beaten black and bloody not long after he'd lost Dawn and Fawn. He'd been on a similar constant and destructive bender as he was now and had snapped at the prospect over virtually nothing and put him in hospital for more than week. Said prospect had left Charming as soon as he'd been released and the club still owed him a shit ton of favors.

"No." Tig said with a shake of his head, eyes watering at the very notion of Boo being in hospital because of him. For a brief moment he let himself believe that he would never go so far as to beat Boo to the point where she needed hospitalization but then he remembered that not so long ago he'd believed that he'd never hurt her, that he'd never lay a hand on her. Now he'd done both and he knew that he was also capable of putting her in hospital. "I know I'm hurting her Gem, I know it, and I can't stand it." Tig admitted tearfully. He stared at Gemma, looked her right in the eye and pleaded with her to help him. He couldn't stop the drinking alone, couldn't contain his anger around Boo. He needed help; he just wasn't man enough to admit it aloud.

"You need to stop drinking and hiding behind the booze." Gemma said, shaking Tig again. She could see that he was pleaded with her to help him without saying a word but knew he had it in him to sort out the mess that was his life and relationship with Boo himself. He just didn't know it yet. "Just man up, apologize to her and tell her that you miss her, that you're scared of losing her." Gemma added for that was all it would take for Tig to set things right. Boo loved him like he was her father and as much as he'd hurt her in the last few days, she'd soon forgive him if he did right by her and apologized.

"What if I've already lost her?" Tig asked fearfully, voice strained and barely audible, face paling as he spoke. He didn't think he'd be able to live with himself if he'd already pushed Boo away to the point where he'd lost her. He needed her, she was his little girl, the one person that saw past all the horrific things he'd done, saw past his disgusting and rather disturbing nature and saw the man that he really was underneath, loved the man he really was.

Tig was so terrified, so crippled by the fear that he might have lost Boo that he ignored Gemma's advice. He didn't go and apologize to Boo, didn't make things right with her. He continued to avoid and ignore her – barely going into work, only going to the clubhouse when his presence was needed – and worst of all, he continued to drink. Every day his drinking got worse, every day he drank more and more and every day, his body's dependency on alcohol heightened. Before long, he couldn't function without a drink in him, couldn't get out of bed or stop shaking violently until he'd had a beer or three.

_**SAMCRO**_

"Boo?" Chibs muttered as he nuzzled Boo's ear and gave her a firm little shake to help rouse her. Boo groaned softly and tried to scurry under the blanket, but Chibs pulled it away from her and rubbed his nose against hers. "Wake up darlin', it's here!" he drawled as he pushed a piece of paper into her hand. Boo sighed heavily at that, swatted Chibs away before rubbing the sleep from her tired eyes. He sat back on the bed and allowed her to awaken, to sit up herself and glance down at the paper in her hand.

"What's here?" Boo drawled tiredly as she unfolded the paper Chibs had pushed into her hand. She tried to read over it, but her eyes were still sore and heavy with sleep so the words were mostly just a blur. What little she could make out she didn't really understand as it comprised of a bunch of legal terms and jargon. To help her out, Chibs leaned forward and pointed out the one line that would help her to make sense of the whole thing.

"_We _officially own this apartment." Chibs beamed as he tapped at the paper with his fingertip. Some weeks previously, just days after Boo had moved into Chibs apartment, she had received a substantial royalty check from her publishers. It had been enough to pay off the apartment Chibs had been making payments towards for years. Boo decided to use the money to pay off the apartment so that both she and Chibs had paid towards it and therefore, owned it together. She'd tried to make it a surprise for him but Chibs had known she was keeping something from him and had got her to confess to the plan in her sleep. Boo hadn't been happy with him – he'd let on that he knew, making Boo realize that he'd discovered that she got all talkative and truthful in her sleep if she had a drink – as she'd wanted to surprise him but in the end, the fact that he knew about the plan made paying off the apartment a whole lot easier. "What, no smile? This is a big thing for us Hen." Chibs teased when Boo just continued to stare down at the paper, her expression unchanged. Just a month previously, Chibs had been living alone while Boo lived with her father, despite the fact they'd been together over three years. Now not only did they live together but they owned property together too; their relationship had taken many huge steps forward in recent weeks and despite this, Boo couldn't even raise a smile.

"I'm sorry, I am pleased, really!" Boo insisted at once, rambling quickly and forcing a smile onto her lips as she spoke. And she was pleased, elated even. Living with Chibs and owning an apartment with him just seemed to solidify their relationship, bind them even closer together than they already were. It was also however, proof that she no longer lived with Tig, that she'd walked away from the man who'd taken her in and cared for her for five long years. It had been a month now since she'd moved out, a month in which she'd not seen or talked to Tig and she missed him terribly. She'd tried in vain to contact and see him a few times but the stubborn bastard seemed hell-bent on avoiding her so she'd been unsuccessful. "I just… this makes me miss Tig is all." Boo admitted, shaking her head and chuckling softly to show she knew how pathetic she was being.

"So why don't yeh try talkin' to him again?" Chibs suggested as he took the paper from Boo's hands and tucked into the pocket of his cut. He was still very mad at Tig for the way he'd treated Boo, for the way he was ignoring her and he longed to intervene once again – clearly breaking the Sergeant at Arms nose hadn't been warning enough – but Clay had stopped him from doing so and so Chibs had to settle for merely glaring at Tig every time they crossed paths at work or in the clubhouse. Not that Tig showed up at either much these days. "It's been almost a month Hen." Chibs added. He found himself startled that Tig and Boo would willingly go so long without talking to one another but then they were both as stubborn as the other and so he knew neither was likely to back down any time soon.

"No!" Boo snapped at once, with such ferocity that Chibs near jumped out of his skin. Boo flashed him an apologetic smile before sighing heavily and tussling her sleep tangled hair. "Chibs I'm fed up of chasing after him, begging him to speak to me hell, to even so much as look at me." Boo insisted. She didn't feel as though she should be the one chasing after him any longer, after all she'd done no wrong in moving out so that she could live with the man she'd been with for over three years, but Tig had done wrong by attacking her and treating her like shit because of it. Especially since the decision had been his in the first place. "I look like a fool every time I do that." Boo added with a scowl, her cheeks flaming a soft pink as she spoke. Chasing after Tig, and so unsuccessfully so, made her feel like a clingy croweater that didn't seem to understand she'd never be more than a quick fuck in the corner of the clubhouse. "If he wants to speak to me, he can come to me." She said firmly, with resolve. As much as she wanted to go chasing after Tig, she wouldn't. He was the one in the wrong; he was the one acting like a child so he was the one that should man up and talk to her. "I'm done running around after him like a lost little puppy." She drawled with a shake of her head.

"Yeah. I understand that." Chibs nodded. If he was honest with himself he'd hated watching Boo chase after Tig, begging for his attention. He was glad she was finally taking a stand and waiting for Tig to talk to her. He'd wronged her in so many way's since she'd agreed to move out and as far as Chibs was concerned, Tig should be crawling to her on his hands and knees, begging for her forgiveness. "If he doesn't talk to yeh soon, do yeh want me to hit him again?" he asked with a cheeky smile, to which Boo tutted and rolled her eyes, chuckled softly.

"No, you don't need to do that." She said, sounding rather amused by Chibs' suggestion. Although if Tig went much longer without talking to her she might just take Chibs up on his suggestion! Her would-be father needed some serious sense knocked into him. "I still can't believe you broke his nose." She added, for although she'd not seen the damage Chibs had done to Tig's face, the news had traveled back to her via Gemma who was trying to fix the relationship between Boo and Tig with little success.

"Yer not still mad about that are yeh?" Chibs asked nervously, eyebrow arched. Boo had been livid with him when she'd discovered he'd broken Tig's nose and ordered him to sleep on the couch that night, Her anger however, had been short lived for within an hour of them both going to bed, she'd come into the living room to get him as she missed having him sleep at her side.

"I was never mad about that in the first place, not really; he deserved it." Boo admitted with a shrug of her shoulders. At first she'd been angry with Chibs, livid even – how dare he meddle in her business, how dare he break her fathers nose – but then she'd calmed down and realized he'd only done it because he cared about her, because he hated the way Tig was treating her and wanted to somehow put that right. "However I am still mad about the fact that you knew that I speak in my sleep after I've had a drink and that I get all truthful!" she scolded with a playful smile as she waved a finger in Chibs direction, for that was how the Scotsman had found out about Tig's horrid treatment of her. Boo however had long since forgiven him for this after he'd spent the day with the words '_I'm an asshole. I betrayed my girls trust_' scrawled on the back of his work shirt.

"Would yeh have told me about what he'd done to you otherwise?" Chibs asked with a wry grin. He found it quite endearing how protective Boo was over her father, even after all he'd done to her and saw it as a sign that she'd be an amazing mother one day, should they ever be lucky enough to have children together. It was also a sign that she'd make and that she was, an astounding Ol' Lady that could more than handle the life Chibs had long ago wanted to keep her from. He knew she'd stand by his side no matter what, that she'd love him, protect him and comfort him until the end. "I know I was wrong teh do what I did but I needed to know that he'd done that to yeh; I couldn't let him get away with treatin' yeh like that." Chibs added, for he still felt guilty about betraying Boo's trust. The guilt was lessened somewhat by the fact Boo knew and understood that he'd only done it in order to do right by her. "Nobody treats my girl like dirt and gets away with it." Chibs growled as he reached out and cupped Boo's cheek in his hand, caressed her soft skin with his thumb. Boo beamed and closed her eyes, leaned into Chibs touch with a contented sigh. She knew he'd been just trying to protect her and couldn't be mad at him for that. "I've gotta get to work, don't want to be late." Chibs sighed when he spotted the time, leaning forward to press his lips to Boo before he jumped off the bed and started to pull on his boots.

"Okay. Love you." Boo grinned, pecking his cheek before snuggling up under the covers once again. She was hoping to spend a lazy few hours dozing in bed with a good book and a tasty breakfast, however within seconds of her head hitting the pillow, her cell phone rang. Boo groaned in annoyance and took the phone from Chibs when he handed it to her without bothering to look at the screen. "Hello?" she asked tiredly as Chibs chuckled in amusement.

"Hey Boo, it's Gemma." Gemma said. Boo sighed and sat up. The SAMCRO matriarch sounded stressed and Boo knew she wouldn't be calling her without good reason. "Listen, can you come in today?" Gemma added at once. Boo scowled at that, she'd not done a shift at the garage in more than a month, not since Tig had told her to move out. It wasn't that she didn't want the work, it was just that she wasn't needed, especially since she had her new novel to work on.

"I don't know Gem…" Boo sighed, although she was already clambering out of bed and trying to remember where she'd put her Teller-Morrow shirt. She planned to protest a little bit but then go into work in the hopes that maybe if she did so and ignored Tig, her guardian would cave in and try and talk to her.

"We really need you today sweetheart, we're really short staffed right now." Gemma admitted. Dog and Juice had both taken the day off because they were ill and Piney was on vacation with Donna and his grandchildren. And they weren't the only ones not working that day, Tig wasn't either and it was only because of his absence that Gemma was reaching out to Boo for help.

"What about Tig?" Boo asked as she found her Teller-Morrow shirt and dumped it on the bed along with a clean pair of black jeans. Chibs had worked out what was going on for he pulled a clean bra and a fresh pair of panties from Boo's underwear drawer and handed them over before looking in the closet for the pair of tatty converse she usually wore to work at the garage. "I don't think I can be there if he is." Boo sighed as she offered Chibs a smile of thanks. Chibs grinned and nodded his head, perched on the end of the bed. He was willing to wait for Boo and give her a lift to the garage, even if it made him a little late. This of course, had a lot to do with the fact that if he did, he got to watch her change.

"Yeah, well that's why I need you to work today." Gemma admitted, sighing in frustration as she spoke. She'd rather tell Boo the news face to face but knew it was unlikely Boo would come to the garage to fill in unless she knew the truth about what was going on so decided to tell her there and then. "Tig was taken to St. Thomas first thing this morning."

_**Cliffhanger! I'll try and update this soon so don't worry, you'll find out what happened to Tig soon enough Until then reviews would be loved, they are extremely motivational and make my writing more than worthwhile. **_


	6. Trouble At St Thomas

_Disclaimer - The characters of this fanfiction, as well as the 'Sons of Anarchy' world belong to Kurt Sutter, with the exception of 'Boo' Trager, who is an original character created by me. I make no profit from this work._

"Tig was taken to St. Thomas first thing this morning." Gemma admitted with a reluctant sigh. Boo gasped in horror and dropped the phone at once, her eyes flooded with tears and she began hyperventilating. _Tig was in hospital?_ Why? What was wrong with him? Was he ill, injured? Or worse… dying? Boo wanted to pick up the phone and demand answers from her stepmother but she was suddenly barely able to function. She sat on the edge of her bed, raked her shaking fingers through her hair and tried to catch her breath but she was in such a panicked state about Tig that she couldn't. Worried and eager to know what was going on, Chibs grabbed Boo's phone off the floor and put it to his ear.

"Gemma? It's Chibs." He explained at once. "What the hell is going on?" he demanded fiercely. He wanted answers and he wanted them as soon as possible; he couldn't possibly imagine what had gotten his girl so worked up and anxious but knew it had to be something to do with Tig. The Scotsman's stomach contorted painfully in fear as he tried to imagine what the Sergeant at Arms could have done to warrant such a reaction from Boo. He felt near certain the man had been idiot enough to get himself caught doing something that would have him in jail for years to come.

"I went round to Tig's to check on him this morning as he wasn't answering his cell." Gemma explained with a weary sigh. She felt guilty for having told Boo such awful news over the phone but knew explaining to the young author why Tig wasn't at the garage was the best way to get her to come in and cover a shift. Besides if Boo had let her explain why Tig was in hospital, she wouldn't have gotten so distressed. "He was passed out in bed covered in his own vomit; his skin was practically fucking blue." Gemma went on, shuddering softly at the memory. It had taken Gemma near ten minute's to wake Tig – who was bloated and filthy, like he hadn't washed in days – from his drink induced coma-like state. He'd obviously been out for a while as the vomit on his clothes was dried on. "When I finally managed to wake him, he was confused and disorientated, kept bumping into things. He didn't even know who I was." Gemma sighed as she shook her head. Once awake, Tig had rolled out of bed, muttering incoherently to himself. He'd ignored Gemma at first and had stumbled towards his closet, looking around the room as he did so like he wasn't quite sure where he was. He'd only taken two steps before he'd walked into something – the chest at the end of his bed – despite the fact that he'd been looking right at it. Gemma had caught him before he'd fallen and it was then that Tig finally noticed her. He demanded to know who she was, his words slurred and distant, his eyes unfocussed and bloodshot. Gemma had realised then that she needed to call an ambulance and so had sat Tig down in the kitchen with a glass of water and dialled 911.

"Alcohol poisoning?" Chibs asked, recognising the signs. As an army medic, alcohol poisoning was one of the most common things he'd treated. Most of his comrades would sneak away from the base on Friday nights so they could drink themselves stupid, with one or two always going that little bit too far…

"Yeah, it's pretty bad." Gemma replied. Tig had gotten to hospital in time but he'd had to have his stomach pumped. He was also hooked up to a drip and had had a catheter fitted to drain his bladder to prevent him from wetting himself. All in all he was in a very embarrassing state and Gemma knew he wouldn't be up for visitors just yet so she decided to tell a little lie. "Look, he's going to be out all morning while the doctors treat him but then he'll be fine." Gemma explained, hoping that Chibs wouldn't realise she was stretching the truth a little. "I just need Boo to cover some work until lunchtime then I'll close up and she can go and see him." Gemma wasn't just going to shut the garage for Boo's sake; with so many people off work that day they only had the staff to cover the jobs they already had and wouldn't be able to accept any new ones – even with Boo covering.

"Aye, alright I'll ask her if she'll do it." Chibs sighed. He was glad that Tig hadn't done anything too stupid and that he wasn't in jail or dying but that didn't mean he was looking forward to explaining to Boo – who was now calmed somewhat and just sitting on the bed staring at him, her face drained of colour – what was wrong with her would-be father. "Thanks Gem." He added before hanging up and placing Boo's phone on the side.

"Is he alright?" Boo demanded as she leapt to her feet, her eyes even wider with fear than they had been before. She'd heard Chibs side of the conversation of course, and knew Tig had alcohol poisoning but didn't know enough about it to be able to know what kind of condition Tig was in. All she knew was that it made a person very ill and that in the worst cases, it could kill people. "I don't really know anything about alcohol poisoning but it can't be good can it?" She rambled frantically, searching Chibs near emotionless face for answers as she spoke. The Scotsman offered her a weak smile, put his hand on her arm.

"He'll be fine lassie." Chibs assured her, pecking her on the end of her nose to help calm her down a little more. "He's getting treated for it this morning so yeh can't go and see him just yet." He explained. Boo scowled at that, unhappy that she couldn't go and see her daddy right away but nodded her head. At least once he had been treated he would be in a much better mood and be in a much better condition too. Boo was hopeful that Tig's alcohol poisoning would finally snap some sense into him and would convince him it was time to finally make amends with her. "Gemma needs yeh the cover until lunch, but then she's shutting the garage so yer able to visit him, okay?" Chibs added. He didn't know if Boo would be willing to work after receiving such awful news but he had to ask her as he'd promised Gemma – and there was no going back on promises you made Gemma Morrow, not unless you wanted a good tongue lashing that is.

"Yeah I… I need the distraction." Boo sighed as she rubbed at the bridge of her nose. She didn't really want to go to the garage – she had a headache forming and the place would be too much of a reminder of better times with Tig – but if she stayed home or waited in the hospital waiting room until Tig was allowed visitors, she'd drive herself up the wall with worry. "I'll get dressed." She added as she pulled off the pair of Chibs' boxers she'd worn to bed and replaced them with her own panties.

"He'll be just fine Hen, don't yeh worry." Chibs promised as Boo pulled on her Teller-Morrow shirt. Her hands were shaking so much that she couldn't do up the buttons, so Chibs pushed her hands aside and did up her shirt for her. "He's just been an idiot and had far too much teh drink." He added as he brushed his knuckles over Boo's cheek. His girl leaned into his touch, sighed contently and nodded her head. _She felt Chibs had summed things up quite nicely_! "This'll set things right between yeh, I'm sure of it." Chibs concluded for surely Tig would now notice the magnitude of not only what he was doing to Boo, but to himself as well and all over something as petty as Boo moving out!

"I really hope you're right." Boo sighed as she finished getting dressed.

_**SAMCRO**_

Boo left Teller-Morrow as soon as she was able to, racing out after her last job without bothering to check in with Gemma or say goodbye to Chibs before she left. She was just so desperate to see Tig and was still dressed in her work shirt and covered in oil when she arrived at the hospital.

"I'm here to see Tig… I mean Alex." She rambled breathlessly to the middle-aged redhead behind the reception desk. The woman gave her a mildly appalled look after taking in the oil staining her hands and clothes, so Boo quickly stuffed her hands in her pockets. "Alexander Trager, he was brought in this morning with alcohol poisoning." Boo added, scowling in frustration and impatience when the receptionist didn't immediately check her computer for Tig's room details.

"Right okay, let me just check which room he's in." she said with a sickly sweet smile before turning to her computer. She tapped in the details Boo had given her, as well as Tig's date of birth after Boo gave it to her but didn't immediately give Boo the number of Tig's room. Instead she scowled momentarily and then forced the sickly sweet smile back onto her face. "Can I ask how you're related to Mr. Trager?" she asked as she turned back round to face Boo. Boo had to clench her fist tight to stop herself from screaming and lashing out at the woman; why wouldn't the idiot just give her Tig's room number? Why did it matter how she was related to him, he wasn't in critical condition and therefore wasn't restricted to just family visitors.

"I'm his daughter." Boo snapped, regretting the harshness of her tone in an instance when the receptionist arched an eyebrow and frowned at her in a disapproving sort of way. She took a deep breath and attempted to calm herself down a little, forced herself to smile kindly at the receptionist. "Can I just go and see him? Please?" she asked, as calmly as she was able to.

"Can you tell me your first name Miss Trager?" the receptionist asked without bothering to look back at her screen, the sickly sweet smile on her lips still in place, her voice smug and superior. Boo had to take another deep breath to keep herself calm and was clenching her fists so tight she could feel her nails cutting into the palm of her hand.

"Boo… Hayley… I don't see what this has to do with anything." She muttered grudgingly. She didn't understand what the receptionist was doing nor why she wasn't just telling her Tig's room number_. She was his daughter and she just wanted to make sure that he was okay_! She wasn't a Mayan sent to kill Tig or some terrorist with a bomb strapped to her chest! "Can I please just go and see my daddy?" she asked, sounding desperate and frightened. The receptionist gave Boo a brief sympathetic look but then shook her head back and forth.

"I'm sorry Miss Trager bur according to my records Mr. Trager has requested that we prevent you from seeing him." She said as she gestured towards her computer, checking the screen as she did so to make sure that she'd gotten her facts right. Boo's jaw dropped open at that, she stared at the receptionist in disbelief and shook her head a little – _she had to be kidding right?_

"What?" she demanded, not even bothering to try and be polite. She couldn't understand why Tig would ban her from seeing him. Sure things were bad between them but she was still his daughter and he knew damn well she'd be worried about him!

"I'm afraid you've been banned from seeing him." The receptionist explained sternly, the sickly sweet smile gone from her face, instead replaced by a determined grimace. "You cannot go up to his room; security will be called if you do." She added threateningly, a smug glint in her eye as she spoke. Boo knew she was being serious and that the receptionist was looking for any excuse to get her kicked out of the hospital.

"But he's my daddy." Boo whined tearfully, her eyes overflowing as she spoke, stinging in reaction to the tears that had filled them. Boo didn't bother to wipe them away, mostly because she wanted the receptionist to see her tears – in hopes it would make her relent and allow Boo to see Tig – but also because she knew it'd be stupid of her to wipe at her eyes with oil all over her hands. "I just want to make sure he's okay." She added, her words shuddery and high pitched. The receptionist gave Boo a look that made it more than apparent that she didn't care.

"I'm sorry Miss Trager." She said with a shake of her head, her words deadpan and obviously a lie. "There's nothing I can do about that." And with that, the receptionist got to her feet, placed a _'Closed; please use other reception near back entrance.'_ sign on her desk and walked away, leaving a now sobbing Boo standing where she was feeling lost, confused and like her heart was being ripped out.

_**SAMCRO**_

Chibs held Boo's hand as he led her past the reception desk at St. Thomas and towards the elevators. She was dressed down in a baggy pair of jeans and a black hooded sweatshirt, the hood of which she had up and pulled right across her face in case anyone saw her. There was a different person behind the desk at reception but it was possible that they too, had been informed that Boo was banned from visiting her father.

"Keep yer head down lass." Chibs drawled as they waited for the elevator to arrive. Boo nodded her head and pulled her hood over her face more, but didn't say a word. Chibs hadn't wanted to sneak her into the hospital, but Boo had threatened to withhold sex until he did and so the Scotsman had caved… mostly because she'd been wearing nothing but a very small towel at the time, the manipulative little minx! Once they arrived on Tig's floor, Chibs put a hand on each of Boo's shoulders and looked deep into her eyes. "Remember, yer not the go in or Tig will call security." He said strictly, tightening his hold on her shoulders to make sure she got the message. "Just check on him then come back, I'll wait right here for yeh." He added as he nodded his head towards the room Tig was staying in. He found it odd that the Sergeant at Arms hadn't banned him from his room as well, but guessed the older man didn't expect him to visit, considering how distant and cold they'd been with one another of late.

"I know." Boo nodded. She wasn't going to dare go into Tig's room, she just wanted to see him, to check to make sure he was okay. Chibs had had a go at her about it, called her an idiot for caring so much about a man who obviously didn't give a damn about her but she'd ignored him. Tig was just having a hard time dealing with her moving out but was too stubborn and proud to admit it is all; why else would he have drunk himself into such a state? "I won't be long, I promise." Boo assured Chibs before kissing his cheek quickly and hurrying down the hall without another word. The room in Tig's light was still on, allowing Boo to see in clearly through the window in his door. He was asleep but could wake up at any time, so Boo made sure she kept to the shadows in case he saw her – she didn't know what he'd do, how he'd react if he realised she was there. Despite this, Boo couldn't help but approach the window when she realised what a terrible condition her father was in. "Daddy, what have you done to yourself…" she whispered softly to herself as she stared at him. He was bloated and looked overweight, like he'd put on about 20 pounds since the last time Boo had seen him. His skin was sallow and still had the sort of bluish tint to it that was attributed to alcohol poisoning. His skin and hair alike, although obviously recently washed, was still greasy and grimy, leading Boo to believe he hadn't washed for days – possibly even longer – since his admission to hospital. His eyes – which looked tiny in his puffy face - were ringed a brilliant red and there were dark circles under them. Boo was certain that if he opened his eyes, they'd be bloodshot and as red as the rings around them. Despite all this, Tig looked tiny in his large hospital bed, so small and vulnerable. Boo wanted nothing more than to sneak in and crawl in alongside of him but knew she shouldn't, so simply continued to stare in, mentally willing her father to get better the whole while. She must have stayed outside Tig's room staring in for a long while for suddenly Chibs was there behind her, he placed his hand on her shoulder to get her attention, making Boo practically jump out of her skin – she'd completely forgotten about the fact that Chibs was waiting for her at the end of the corridor. It was then that she realised that she'd been crying, that silent tears were still toppling down her cheeks.

"Hey, come on darlin'." Chibs muttered in Boo's ear as he slipped his hand into hers. "We better go before someone sees yeh her." He added, for Boo had been standing outside of Tig's room for near ten minute's now. The Scotsman was surprised that someone hadn't come along and spotted Boo already. Boo didn't move, she just continued to stare into Tig's room with tears dripping down her cheeks. The sight of her so anguished was breaking Chibs' heart but he knew she'd be okay if he could just get her away from Tig's room and back home where they could share a nice hot bath and a bottle of wine. "Come on my lovely, we have teh go." He insisted as he gave her hand a firm tug. Boo relented when he did this, allowed him to lead her away from Tig's room and back down the corridor to the elevator.

"Why do you think he doesn't want to see me Filip?" Boo asked dismally once they were outside and strapping on their helmets ready for the ride home. Boo was utterly convinced that the man she saw as her father wanted nothing more to do with her, that he was glad that she was out of his hair but didn't say this out loud for every time she did, she and Chibs ended up arguing. Still she wanted the Scotsman's opinion on the matter in the hopes that maybe it would make more sense that hers did.

"He probably doesn't want yeh teh see him in such a state Hen." Chibs said with a swift shrug of his shoulders. He'd been expecting Boo to ask him such a question all evening and had been planning his answer carefully. In all honesty he knew that Tig was just being a stubborn and spiteful bastard but he couldn't tell Boo that, he had to tell her something a little more comforting that was still something akin to the truth. Tig probably didn't want Boo to see him in such a state, or rather he wouldn't if he was being his normal self. "Once he's out and feelin' a little better, he'll come and see you, make amends." He added as he got on his bike, speaking with far more certainty that he felt. He hoped his words were of some comfort to his girl and he hoped even more so, that what he'd said would come true and that Tig would come and see his daughter upon his release.

"Maybe…" Boo nodded, forcing a smile onto her lips before joining Chibs on his bike and wrapping his arms tight around his waist. Despite Chibs assurances Boo was certain that he wouldn't be coming to see her after he was released from St. Thomas to make amends and things would continue as they had been before he'd been taken to hospital.

_**Thank you so much for all the reviews last time, they really mean a lot to me! There are only a few chapters left in this side-story but I'm not quite sure how many yet or quite how the next chapter will play out. **_

_**Until then reviews would be loved; they are extremely motivational and make my writing more than worthwhile.**_


	7. As Long As I'm Living, My Baby You'll Be

_Disclaimer - The characters of this fanfiction, as well as the 'Sons of Anarchy' world belong to Kurt Sutter, with the exception of 'Boo' Trager, who is an original character created by me. I make no profit from this work._

_**Thanks so much for all the reviews! I'm so glad you're all enjoying this story! **_

The month between the day Chibs' broke his nose and the day he was admitted to hospital with alcohol poisoning was a blurring one indeed for Tig. The days were hazy and ran into one another, he couldn't pick one day out from another and he wasn't quite sure when things had happened, or even if they'd happened at all. Drinking, near constantly so, was the cause of this. Tig was drinking more than he ever had before and was rarely sober. He knew he was heading down a dangerous path but he didn't care; drinking himself into oblivion was far easier than going to see Boo, than apologising too her and admitting he was scared and lost without her. Drinking kept away the horrid notion that maybe, just maybe, he'd already lost her forever.

One day – a day not long after Chibs had broken his nose, for it was still swollen and sore, bound by its metal cast – Tig was awoken by a loud hammering at his door, which was not uncommon as he constant drunken stupor often meant he missed work or was late for church. But when he opened the door, there was no one there; not one of his brothers, not Boo or Gemma. _Nobody_. But then he'd looked down and cried out in fear at the sight before him; dolls, lot's of them, each and every one with an eerie resemblance to Boo. They sat in a line, all of them looking up at him with their cold, dead eyes, sinister little smiles on their faces. Tig tried to back away from them, but he couldn't, he was frozen to the spot, unable to move. He began to panic and soon, to hyperventilate. He struggled to breath and after a moment, he fell to his knee's, desperately clawing at his throat as he did so as if this would help him in some way. Finally his version became spotted with black circles and he fell forward into the line of dolls. The last thing he could remember seeing was one of them right up close, smiling down at him in that sinister way, their eyes wide, unblinking and so akin to Boo's Tig almost vomited in terror… and then he jerked awake, passed out in his door way in a puddle of his own vomit, a paper bag with a fresh bottle of JD at his side. _He'd passed out on the way home from the store and had dreamt the entire thing…_

One day a few weeks later, Tig awoke on a couch at the clubhouse, his fists covered in blood. He had no idea whose blood it was, if it came from enemy or friend, and no one seemed to be able to give him an answer. Apparently he'd just shown up at the clubhouse the night before, blood on his knuckles, mumbling incoherently and had passed out on the couch without speaking to anyone. When the Sergeant at Arms really thought about it, really strained his memory, he remembered going to Chibs an Boo's apartment and looking in from the other side of the road, willing himself to cross over, to knock on their door and apologise to his daughter. But he'd not been able to bring himself to do so and so had stayed there and watched them as they laughed, talked and shared a meal. After ten minute's, he'd walked away but he was soon followed by a man who lived above Chibs and Boo. Said man had believed Tig was watching him and his wife make love and so had tried to attack him, but Tig had gotten the upper hand and had beaten the guy bloody.

Venturing across town to Chibs and Boo's apartment became a regular thing for Tig during that month; he did it at least once or twice a week. He'd stand and stare in, watch Chibs and Boo – or just Boo if she was home alone – and will himself to cross the road, to go and make amends with his daughter but he could never bring himself to do so. The problem was that Boo always looked so damn happy: whether she was just curled up on the couch with Chibs talking or watching TV, or eating dinner with him, dancing with him – they did that a lot – or just lounging about the living room, reading that he didn't want to disturb her. She was happy and she was happy without Tig in her life so why bother to disturb her, to take that happiness away from her by invading her life? The only time Tig seriously considered going over to see his daughter was one night when he spotted her and Chibs arguing. They were having what appeared to be a blazing row and Tig was ready to dash across the road and intervene but then Chibs pinned Boo against the wall and kissed her passionately, pushed her pants down as she shoved his cut free from his shoulders, so Tig walked away as quickly as his legs would take him. _He didn't want to see Chibs and his daughter fucking against the wall of their living room!_

Tig was honestly surprised that Clay didn't just fire him during that month; when he did show up at work, his work was shoddy and unacceptable, often had to be redone. He was rude to customers and his brothers alike and even snapped at Gemma a few times. Worse, the icy, distant relationship he had with Chibs since the Scotsman had broken his nose was making everyone uncomfortable; they fully expected one of them to just snap and attack the other. Church was even worse; Tig and Chibs kept the biggest physical distance possible from one another and never interacted. Tig barely listened to a word Clay said and never really understood what he was voting on or what the clubs next run was for. Not once in that month did Clay have him doing any sort of job that involved killing, beating or maiming someone – all such jobs went to Happy. _Hell he wasn't even sent to intimidate anyone_! The president obviously didn't trust his Sergeant at Arms in his near-constant inebriated state.

Tig wasn't sure how he ended up in hospital. The night before was just a blur. He remembered returning from the clubhouse with a bottle of JD, a case of Budweiser's and a blonde – at least he thinks she was blonde – croweater. He couldn't remember where he'd picked the woman up or why he'd decided to bring her back to his apartment – something he'd never normally do – but she was there and the last thing he remembered before waking up in a hospital bed was the blonde on her knee's in front of him, giving him head as she poured whiskey over his dick. After that there was only darkness. He couldn't even recall Gemma showing up at his that morning, couldn't remember waking up and stumbling around the room, muttering incoherently nor could he remember asking Gemma who she was. One of the first things that the Sergeant at Arms did once he'd woken up was ban Boo from his room; he wanted to see her and make amends, he really did, but he didn't want her to see him in such a god awful state_. It was bad enough that he had a fucking tube up his dick; he didn't need his daughter to be there to see it_! Boo of course, came anyway. She snuck into the hospital hidden in an oversized black hooded sweatshirt and hovered outside Tig's door for ages, staring in looking dismayed. Tig awoke and caught sight of her just as Chibs came and steered her away. He sat up and tried to call out to her, to beg her to come back but he couldn't make his voice work. He made little more than a feeble crook that was barely loud enough for himself to hear. He tried to get out of bed so that he could chase after Boo, let her know that he was okay and that he wanted to finally make things right with her but the second he stood up, his world started to spin and darken and within moments, he'd passed out again. When he woke up, he wasn't sure if Boo's visit was a dream or if it'd really happened. He convinced himself that it was a dream because he'd honestly begun to let himself believe that Boo really hated him and that he'd lost her forever.

_**SAMCRO**_

Tig shook violently as he shoved his belongings into his backpack, wiped at his sweaty forehead after he'd sealed the bag shut. His forehead was dripping with sweat again by the time he'd sat himself down on the end of his bed and dropped his head into his hands. He'd been in hospital for three days recovering from alcohol poisoning, three days where he'd gone without having a drink and now he was paying for that. His alcohol addicted body was screaming out for booze; the sweats and the shakes were nothing compared to how sick he felt. He was constantly on the verge of vomiting and yet he could not be sick for he'd not been able to eat the entire time he'd been in St. Thomas. He'd tried to tell himself he just couldn't eat the shitty hospital food, but he knew that was bullshit because he'd not even been able to eat Gemma's meatloaf when she'd brought him up some. He knew this would change once he'd had a drink, knew once he'd had a beer or three he'd be feeling fine and able to hold down his dinner. This terrified him because he knew he was fast on his way to becoming a full blown alcoholic but he was far too stubborn and proud to admit this to anyone.

"Hey brother." Came Chibs voice from the doorway. Tig didn't even look up; he'd not seen Chibs in all the time he'd been in hospital and honestly hadn't expected the Scotsman to be the one to pick him up, considering how things were with Boo. He'd kept her banned from his room throughout his stay at St. Thomas and knew he still wasn't ready to man up and apologise to her, to find out if he really had lost her or not, despite her visit - which Tig still didn't know if he'd dreamed or not.. "Yeh ready teh go home?" Chibs asked, his voice calm and virtually emotionless.

"Chibs man… shit." Tig drawled, chuckling nervously as he looked up at the Scotsman, whose expression was as emotionless as his voice. "You here to hit me again?" he asked, for he couldn't see any other reason why Chibs would have volunteered to be the one to pick him up.

"No. I'm here teh take yeh home." Chibs said with a shrug of his shoulders. Tig nodded at that and went to grab his backpack, but Chibs got there first and swung it over his shoulder. He didn't miss the way Tig was trembling, how sweaty and pale the man seemed. "Yer shaking brother." He said, voice oozing concern as he put a hand on Tig's shoulder. The Scotsman was certain he knew why Tig was shaking, a certainty that was confirmed by Tig's next words.

"Need a fucking drink." The Sergeant sighed, causing Chibs to scowl at him, eyes dark and hooded with alarm. His intense gaze made Tig feel uncomfortable so the Sergeant at Arms dropped his head, looked instead at Chibs' cut clad chest. "What?" he demanded as he started to march out of the room, stumbling ever so slightly as three days in a bed and alcohol withdrawal had made him unsteady on his feet.

"Drinking…" Chibs drawled, putting at arm around his brothers shoulders to help steady him, an arm that Tig soon shrugged off. He made sure to keep a few paces ahead of Chibs after that, not wanting his help or his pitying and worried stares. "That becoming a problem fer you Tigger?" Chibs asked, despite it being glaringly obvious that Tig had a serious alcohol problem.

"I've got it under control." Tig snapped as they waited for the elevator to arrive, his voice sharp and harsh, making it more than apparent to Chibs that he didn't want to speak on the matter a moment more. "Why are you the one picking me up Chibs?" Tig asked, risking a glance at the Scotsman as he spoke. Chibs was still looking at him in that pitying, worried way so Tig turned away once again, folded his arms defensively across his chest. "And don't you fucking bullshit me either, I know this is about Boo." He added, feeling a tug on his heartstrings at the mention of his beloved daughter.

"Aye it is…" Chibs nodded, his tone of voice unreadable; angry yet full of compassion, restless and yet sympathetic. Tig was confused by this; the Scotsman hated him for what he'd done to Boo, had pretty much avoiding him since he'd broken his nose and yet now he was here, picking Tig up and acting so calmly, so friendly even, despite the fact that Tig was yet to put things right with Boo. "I've recently come to a sort of… understanding." Chibs admitted softly once they were safely inside the sanctuary of the evaluator.

"Oh yeah?" Tig jeered, wondering if this was just some pathetic ploy by the Scotsman to get him to talk to Boo. "How's that?" he demanded, making a point of turning to face the Scotsman as he spoke, his eyes narrowed and dangerous, making it obvious he wasn't going to fall for the mans tricks.

"Yesterday was…" Chibs began, voice riddled with nerves and shaking so much he had to stop and take a breath. He rubbed at his eyes with a weary sigh before shoving his sunglasses down over them to hide the fact that he was close to crying from Tig. Tig however, noticed and his face softened slightly when he realised the younger mans eyes were glazed with tears. He suddenly realised that the Scotsman wasn't trying to pull anything with him. "It was the 11th anniversary of the day I was snatched away from my Kerrianne." Chibs admitted eventually, his voice thick with emotion and on the verge of breaking. Tig's stomach dropped to his feet at once; he suddenly felt like such an asshole for being so irritable with Chibs.

"Shit man… I'm so fucking sorry, I didn't know." Tig rambled frantically, feeling guilty for assuming that Chibs had been trying to trick him into talking with Boo. Obviously he really had come to an understanding about Tig's problems with Boo… losing his daughter in such a violent and horrific way, knowing that's another man was raising her and that he'd never see her again must just be tearing Chibs apart. "What happened that day?" he asked, his curiosity getting the better of him. Chibs had never really told anyone that part of his story, apart from Boo of course. She knew everything. Chibs didn't answer until Tig was signed out and they were in the club van. He didn't start the van, he just sat in the drivers seat, his hands on the wheel, his eyes glancing out at some far off place.

"It was just a normal day…" he began, lips twitching into a momentary smile as he started his tale.

Chibs had been looking after his daughter all weekend while Fiona was out of town for the Cause. In reality, she'd been with Jimmy planning her husband's downfall with her new man, plotting against her husband. Chibs had known that she wasn't away for the Cause and suspected she'd gone to be with Jimmy – McKeavey had shared a few suspicions with him before he'd been sent Stateside, a few bits of information; enough to convince Chibs that Jimmy was after his wife both because he was in love with her and because he wanted to further his position in the IRA and that Fiona wanted him right back – Chibs had hoped that this was just a passing thing, that soon Jimmy would move onto another woman, a woman with a higher ranking and more connections that his Fi. _How wrong he'd been._ It was the middle of September but Belfast was in the midst of a heat wave so Chibs had taken his daughter and nephew Padraic to the seaside for the weekend, staying overnight with them at a bed and breakfast so they could spend two whole days by the sea. The kids had buried Chibs in the sand when he'd fallen asleep, Padraic had taught Kerrianne to build sandcastles and the three of them had enjoyed the rides and candy on offer at the local funfair. All of them had been sad to go home on the Sunday evening, but the children had school the next morning so they'd had to return. After dropping Paddy off with his father, Chibs had stopped off at McDonalds and brought his daughter a Happy Meal. He remembered that she'd been thrilled with the little toy she'd received – a little plush fairy – and that'd he'd been so starved, he'd polished off two Big Mac meals. Something he'd be thankful for later. Kerrianne had been asleep by the time they'd gotten home, but Chibs had been able to coax her awake long enough for a bath. An hour later Chibs tucked her up in bed – along with her new fairy – and wished her goodnight, kissed her forehead. Kerrianne had asked him to read to her as she fell asleep and he of course, had obliged. He'd read her 'Love You Forever' for this was her favourite, especially as Chibs changed the wording slightly so that the story was about them. Kerrianne didn't fall asleep until the very last line, when Chibs closed the book, looked down at her and tenderly whispered '_I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be.' _He'd then kissed her forehead once again before returning downstairs and readying her school things for the morning.

An hour later, as he settled in his armchair with the paper and a mug of tea, he'd heard a noise. Unable to tell what the noise was or where it'd come from, Chibs returned to his daughters bedroom to see if she'd gotten out of bed. She hadn't but her blanket was on the floor, as was her fairy so Chibs had assumed that this was the noise he'd heard. He tucked the blanket round his daughter once again and pressed her fairy back into her hand. After kissing her sleeping forehead one final time, Chibs had stood and backed away, a smile on his lips, his eyes never once leaving his beautiful, innocent little girl. But then suddenly there was noise and movement behind him. He was grabbed from behind; one arm tight around his waist, the other forcing a chloroform soaked rag to his face. A combination of Chibs full stomach and too little chloroform on the rag meant that Chibs, although suddenly woozy and light headed, did not pass out. He'd fought with his captor – Donny, one of Jimmy's men – and tried to break free, to push the chloroform soaked rag away from his face but had soon found himself out numbered and dragged to the ground. Jimmy had appeared and joined in on the assault and he and Donny had then kicked and punched Chibs until his body was aching and raw. Chibs continued to try and break free but was unable too and he soon blacked out. The last thing he saw before his vision had darkened was young Kerrianne, still curled up in her bed fast asleep clutching her fairy. She'd slept through the whole of her father's assault. Chibs remembered being thankful that his daughter was such a deep sleeper in his last remaining conscious moments.

When he'd eventually come round, just before day break, Chibs had found himself on the murky bands of the river Lagan more than twenty miles from his home. He's body was sore, tender and heavy with the effects of the chloroform and his beating yet still he managed to stumble to his feet. His face was stiff, covered in dried blood but thankfully, a quick assessment told the Scotsman that nothing had been broken. He'd gotten all of about five staggered steps when Donny, Jimmy and Fiona had appeared as if from nowhere. The first thing that Chibs had noticed was that Fiona's wedding and engagement rings were gone from her finger. He'd known then that Fiona had been privy to Jimmy and Donny's attack on him, that she quite possibly had played a part in it and that her increasing distance from him in recent months really was down to the fact that she'd moved to another man – Jimmy. Jimmy had soon confirmed this; gleefully gloating that they'd been having an affair for months, that he would now be taking Chibs' place in Fiona's bed and her heart and that soon, Kerrianne would call him 'Da'. Chibs had launched himself at Jimmy then, but was stopped by Donny before he'd even got close to O'Phelan. Donny had shoved him straight back down to the ground and kicked him in the stomach so hard, Chibs could barely breathe and stars started to dance in front of his eyes. Fiona spoke then; she'd ducked down next to him and tucked Chibs hair out of his eyes. She'd called him 'my love', told him that she was sorry but that she no longer loved him, that she loved Jimmy now. She went on to blame Chibs for this, citing his increasing disdain for the Cause and the fact that he loved Kerrianne more than a United Ireland as her reason for straying. Finally she'd kissed his cheek, warned him to stay away and to leave Ireland or face Jimmy's wrath. The trio had then left – but not before Jimmy could take one last shot at Chibs'; informing him he'd been excommunicated from the IRA before kicking the Scotsman between the legs with a callous and gleeful snigger – leaving Chibs alone and in agony on the banks of the river Lagan, the incoming tide lapping at his bloodstained and battered body…

"But of course, I wasn't just going to give up on my little girl." Chibs drawled, turning to Tig for the first time since he'd started telling his story. He'd just become so lost in it he'd forgotten Tig was there. Everything had come flooding back as he'd told the story; the heartache of it all, the physical pain, the sense of betrayal and even the wooziness he'd felt when he had that chloroform soaked rag pressed against his mouth.

"No man, of course not." Tig nodded as Chibs wiped at the tears that were tumbling fast and free down his scarred cheeks. The Scotsman, he noted, was now shaking as much as he was yet he seemed determined to finish his tale so Tig patted his shoulder in encouragement.

"I kept goin' back, fightin' for her… for Fiona, despite everythin' she'd done." Chibs drawled tearfully, launching into his story once again. He'd spent a few days on bed rest at his reluctant brother-in-laws house, recovering from his beating. His brother-in-law had been reluctant as he'd still been part of the IRA at the time and if he'd gotten caught with Chibs – who had been excommunicated from the IRA after Jimmy had convinced it's leaders that he no longer cared for the Cause and that his Scottish heritage made him a threat to a United Ireland – in his home, he and his son alike would have been murdered. Padraic had insisted though and Chibs had moved on as soon as he'd recovered, not wanting to endanger his family a moment longer. A week after being attacked, Chibs had returned to his former home and begged Fiona to come back to him, begged her to let him see Kerrianne. Fiona had refused, had sneered at him and tried to push him away but Chibs wasn't having any of that and soon tried to force his way into the house. That was when Jimmy had appeared. He'd pointed his gun at Chibs and had laughed at the Scotsman when he'd suggested they brawl it out fairly, one on one, without weapons. Chibs had left when Jimmy had threatened to shoot him in front of Kerrianne but the Scotsman had soon returned, this time with a gun. Jimmy had anticipated this and Donny had been on Chibs before he'd even got in sight of the house, endured another beaten and a warning that if he returned again, he'd be shot. But Chibs had returned again; he just wanted his family back, his wife and his little girl. He couldn't stand the idea of losing them and he was willing to do just about anything to win them back. Fiona however, was beyond winning back but it was a long while before Chibs realised this. "In the end I told Jimmy I'd leave Ireland and Fiona behind if I could just take my baby girl with me." Chibs explained. This had happened about 6 weeks after that first attack, 6 weeks since he'd last seen his little girl. By then he'd given up all hopes of winning Fiona back; he could see that she loved Jimmy and that she wanted to be with him, that she was ecstatic to finally be with a man who cared for the Cause as much as she did. He knew Jimmy was getting fed up of his constant attempts to get his family back and hoped that his offer to leave Ireland with Kerrianne would please the now high ranking IRA member and that he'd agree to it, if only to get rid of Chibs. He hadn't. _In fact that request was the breaking point for Jimmy O'Phelan._ "That's when he got fed up and…" Chibs sighed, drawing his story to a close by making a cutting sound as he drew his finger across his face.

"Jesus fucking Christ man that's…" Tig muttered as he shook his head, the sick feeling in his stomach intensifying tenfold as he imagined what it would have been like for his brother to get his face slashed open so brutally, all because he'd fought for his family; all because he'd done all he could to ensure he didn't lose his little girl. The worst part of the whole thing was that Chibs had lost his daughter anyway; he'd never see that little girl again, a little girl that now called the man that had cut her real fathers face open dad. "That's fucking terrible." He concluded eventually, for he was unable to put into words just how goddamn awful, how horrific and heartbreaking he though losing Kerrianne must have been for the Scotsman.

"I know how yeh must be feelin'; how Boo movin' out must be like losing yer little girls all over again." Chibs explained. If he was ever lucky enough to become a father again, to have children with Boo and one of their children was lost in any way – if they were murdered or ran away or moved far away and cut off all contact - he knew he'd relive the agony of losing Kerrianne all over again. "I wouldn't be able teh stand it if I lost my baby over and over again…" Chibs admitted with a shake of his head, before turning to face Tig again. He was startled to see the man close to tears! He'd not seen Tig cry in over three years, not since Boo had overdosed, not since she'd almost died…

"I know I…" Tig began, his words a jumbled, tearful mess that made little sense at all. He took a moment to calm himself, drew in a few deep breathes and furiously wiped at the tears in his eyes. "Shit man; Dawn just hit 18 and she'd pretty much severed ties with me." Tig admitted. Dawn had turned 18 just two days before Boo's graduation. She'd already been living alone by that point but when Tig went round to wish her a happy birthday, he'd discovered she'd moved. She'd changed her phone number too and after finally getting through to Colleen in search of an explanation, Tig had been told his daughter wanted nothing more to do with him. Tig had been keeping this information to himself, not wanting anyone to know he'd lost all contact with Dawn. It felt good to finally tell someone, to get the weight of it off his chest. "Fawn will be the same, I just know it." Tig added, shaking his head once again. Fawn had almost as much disdain for her father as Dawn had and Tig knew she was only putting up with his twice yearly visits because she had too. "Boo was the one daughter I never thought I'd lose, but then she moved in with you and… I know I asked her too but… guess I didn't realise how much it'd hurt." Tig confessed. When he'd first decided that it was time for Boo to move out – long before he'd lost contact with Dawn – he'd expected it to be easy. He'd been looking forward to living alone again and knew he'd not miss his girl much because he'd still see her all the time. He'd believed that Boo's happiness at the notion that she'd finally be living with Chibs would be enough to stop him from hurting too much over her moving out in the first place simply because her happiness was the most important thing in the world to him. _How wrong he'd been…_

"She's hurtin' too brother." Chibs said, to which Tig could only nod. Yes, he knew Boo was hurting, knew he was the cause of that hurt and he hated himself for it. "I've lost count of the amount of times she's cried over you." Chibs added with a saddened sigh and a shake of his head. Boo cried a lot, although she tried to hide it from him. At first it had been every day, every night. Now it was whenever she was reminded of Tig, whenever she thought that Chibs wasn't looking…

"I never meant to hurt her." Tig whispered. Chibs started up the van then and they drove into town in complete silence. Tig was lost in a world of misery and regret and was craving a drink even more than he had been before Chibs had arrived to pick him up. He wanted to numb the pain of knowing he was hurting Boo, wanted to drink away the memory of his conversation with Chibs. Chibs meanwhile, was wondering if Dawn's refusal to have anything to do with her father, now that she was 18, had anything to do with the way he was treating Boo. _He was willing to bet it did._ "What? You're not taking me to yours so you can get me to apologise?" Tig asked when the van stopped in front of his apartment building – he'd expected Chibs to drag him to the home he now shared with Boo, expected the Scotsman to force an apology out of him. Chibs shook his head.

"I'm leavin' that teh you brother." Chibs said. He knew if he forced an apology out of Tig it wouldn't be sincere and it wouldn't mend the rift between Tig and Boo. Tig needed to make amends with Boo, to apologise to her when he was ready. Only then could they sort through their troubles and become close once again. "You'll come in yer own good time. When yer ready that is." Chibs drawled.

"I will." Tig said at once with a nod of his head. And he would; the Sergeant at Arms was going to do his damn best to get himself into a place where he could be ready and able to apologise to his little girl, to make things right with her. He wasn't going to let himself lose her like he'd lost Dawn. "Thank you my brother." Tig sighed, embracing Chibs before jumping out of the van and heading up to his apartment.

_**There isn't much left in this story! Just two – or possibly three, depending on how it plays out – chapters to go! I hope you've been enjoying it so far!**_

_**Until the reviews would be loved; remember I'm not getting paid to write this and I give up a lot of my free time to do so. Reviews are all I ask for in return - they are extremely motivational and make my writing worthwhile. **_


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